FAA Part 142 compliance software: the 2026 checklist

Part 142 compliance software is the topic of this guide. Part 142 is the most demanding training-organization framework in U.S. aviation. The software that supports it has to be architected around Part 142 — not adapted from a Part 61 flight school tool.

Curriculum approval state tracking

Every Part 142 ATO has FAA-approved courseware. Versioning, approval state (pending / approved / superseded), and audit trail per version are non-negotiable. Software that treats curriculum as a static field is the wrong tool.

Check-instructor qualification records

Currency, evaluation history, endorsements per check instructor — tracked continuously, not assembled before an audit. Most violations happen because qualification expiry slipped between cycles.

FSTD / FTD / ATD scheduling

Device qualification level matters — a Level D FFS can't be substituted for a Level B without breaking the training record. Simulator scheduling must be qualification-aware, not just calendar-aware.

Training records and stage checks

Logbook entries, endorsements, stage check sign-offs, Practical Test Standards completion. Every record exportable as a complete student training folder on demand.

Time-limited auditor access

FAA evaluators and external auditors need scoped access — read-only, time-limited, expiring inline at the request level. Not a shared login.

Mapping the 2026 checklist to the actual Part 142 subparts

A compliance checklist is only useful if every line traces back to a regulation an FAA inspector can cite. 14 CFR Part 142 is organized into subparts, and the recordkeeping and qualification obligations that auditors test live in specific sections. Building your software requirements around those exact citations, rather than a generic 'training records' bucket, is what makes audit prep an export instead of a scramble.

The checklist below pairs each Part 142 obligation with its controlling section so you can confirm your system of record actually holds what the regulation asks for. Verify the current text at eCFR before relying on any single item; sections are amended over time.

Aircrew curriculum and syllabus requirements live in Subpart B (sections 142.35 through 142.39). Section 142.37, 'Approval of flight aircrew training program,' requires you to apply to the Administrator for program approval and to indicate which courses make up the core curriculum versus the specialty curriculum. Section 142.39 governs training program curriculum requirements.
Personnel and flight training equipment requirements live in Subpart C (sections 142.45 through 142.59). Instructor eligibility is section 142.47; instructor training and testing is section 142.53; flight simulators and flight training devices are section 142.59.
Recordkeeping is its own subpart, Subpart E (sections 142.71 through 142.73). Section 142.73 is the controlling recordkeeping rule and is where most audit findings about missing or incomplete records land.
AviationAlley is built to model curriculum, instructor qualification, FSTD designation, and trainee records as first-class objects tied to these sections, so a 'compliant' status is backed by the underlying data rather than a checkbox someone toggled by hand.

What 142.73 actually requires you to keep and for how long

Section 142.73 is the recordkeeping backbone of a Part 142 operation, and it is unusually specific about both content and retention. Two distinct record sets are in scope: trainee records and instructor/evaluator qualification records. Treating them as one undifferentiated pile is how centers end up with gaps an inspector finds in minutes.

For each trainee, 142.73(a) calls for the trainee's name; a copy of the trainee's pilot certificate (if any) and medical certificate; the name of the course and the make and model of the flight training equipment used; the trainee's prerequisite experience and course time completed; the trainee's performance on each lesson and the name of the instructor; the date and result of each end-of-course practical test and the name of the evaluator; and the number of hours of additional training accomplished after any unsatisfactory practical test. Those trainee records must be kept for at least one year following completion of training, testing, or checking.

Instructor and evaluator records under 142.73(b) must show compliance with the applicable qualification sections, and they are retained while the instructor or evaluator is employed by the certificate holder and for one year thereafter, with recurrent proficiency demonstration records kept for at least one year. Records are kept at the training center or satellite center where the training occurred, or where the instructor is primarily employed. Always confirm the current retention language at eCFR, since these are minimums and your operations specifications or client contracts may demand longer.

Trainee record fields are enumerated in the regulation, so a per-trainee training folder should capture every one of them, including the instructor and evaluator names tied to each lesson and practical test.
Retention is a minimum of one year for trainee records, measured from completion of training, testing, or checking, not from enrollment.
Instructor qualification records persist through employment plus one year, so an off-boarding workflow that purges a departed instructor immediately can itself create a finding.
AviationAlley is designed to attach the instructor and evaluator of record to each lesson and stage check automatically and to keep records on a retention schedule rather than relying on someone to remember the one-year clock.

Simulator and instructor controls the checklist cannot skip

Two Part 142 obligations cause more last-minute audit stress than almost anything else: proving each simulator is approved for what it was actually used for, and proving each instructor was qualified and current on the day they taught. Both are continuous, point-in-time facts, which is exactly what a binder is bad at and a connected system is good at.

Under section 142.59, each flight simulator and flight training device used for training, testing, and checking must be specifically qualified and approved by the Administrator for each maneuver and procedure for the make, model, and series of aircraft, and the device must be maintained, given daily preflight checks, and tracked with a discrepancy log. A schedule that records which device a session ran on, at which qualification, lets you answer 'was this maneuver approved on this device' without reconstructing it after the fact.

On the instructor side, section 142.47 sets eligibility (including age, English proficiency, aeronautical experience, ground training, and a written test) and requires the center to designate each instructor in writing for each approved course before that person instructs. Section 142.53 then requires training and testing prior to designation and every 12 calendar months thereafter, including an annual proficiency check for instructors who teach in flight training equipment. A qualification record that knows when the next 12-month checkpoint falls turns a recurring scramble into a routine alert.

Record the specific device and its qualification on every session so simulator use maps cleanly to its 142.59 approval.
Keep daily preflight and discrepancy-log entries with the device, not in a separate maintenance silo.
Track each instructor's written designation per approved course (142.47) so no one instructs a course they were never designated for.
Drive the every-12-calendar-month recurrent training and annual proficiency check (142.53) off an alerting calendar rather than memory.
AviationAlley is built to surface these as forward-looking compliance flags; the underlying legality is computed by deterministic rule checks, not AI, so the basis for any flag is auditable.

Step-by-step

Audit current state. Map every Part 142 compliance requirement to where the record lives today. Spreadsheets, binders, shared drives count as "not tracked."
Pick software architected for Part 142. Not a Part 61 tool with Part 142 add-ons. The data model has to treat curriculum, check-instructor qualifications, and FSTD scheduling as first-class.
Migrate curriculum and version history. Bring forward every approved courseware version. Audit trail required from migration date forward.
Set up check-instructor records. Currency, evaluations, endorsements per check instructor. Tracked continuously.
Wire FSTD scheduling. Device qualification level encoded per booking. Maintenance windows visible in the same calendar.
Set up time-limited auditor access. Scoped read-only role for FAA evaluators. Expires automatically.

Frequently asked questions

Which 14 CFR Part 142 sections does a compliance checklist need to cover?

At minimum: Subpart B for curriculum (section 142.37, Approval of flight aircrew training program, and 142.39, training program curriculum requirements), Subpart C for personnel and equipment (142.47 instructor eligibility, 142.53 instructor training and testing, 142.59 flight simulators and flight training devices), and Subpart E for recordkeeping (142.73). Always confirm the current text at eCFR, since Part 142 is amended over time.