The Federal Aviation Administration opened a 30-day public-comment stage for renewing the information collection used to register people for Airman Knowledge Tests. The step matters to prospective test takers because the collection covers personal and eligibility information required to complete test registration.
Key Facts
- Written comments are due September 9, 2026.
- FAA estimates 290,000 annual respondents, two minutes per response and 9,666 total burden hours.
- The notice does not establish that the Office of Management and Budget has approved the renewal.
What the notice does
The August 10 notice advances the collection through the Paperwork Reduction Act review process. FAA said it intends to request renewed OMB approval for the collection, identified as OMB Control No. 2120-0792.
The Paperwork Reduction Act requires federal agencies to seek OMB approval for covered collections of information from the public. At this stage, the public may comment on FAA’s stated need for the collection and its estimate of the work involved. OMB’s decision on the renewal remains pending.
The notice is a request for comments, not a final rule or an OMB decision. It does not create a new testing requirement or change the standards for an FAA certificate or rating.
The collection applies to people registering for an Airman Knowledge Test as part of the FAA certification process. FAA says the information helps confirm a registrant’s identity and eligibility.
Information covered by the collection
Registrants provide their name, FAA Tracking Number, physical address, date of birth, email address and phone number. The collection also includes photo identification, a photograph, test-authorization credentials and the number of previous test attempts.
FAA says the information is stored electronically in the application used for test registration and delivery. A person taking an Airman Knowledge Test must provide the information needed to complete registration before the test is administered.
FAA estimates 290,000 respondents each year and an average burden of two minutes per response. The agency calculates the total annual burden at 9,666 hours.
What came before
FAA published an initial 60-day comment notice for the same collection on April 10, 2026. The August notice is the next procedural stage.
It provides the public-comment period associated with OMB review; it does not decide whether the collection will be renewed. The matter is listed under FAA docket FAA-2026-3853.
What happens next
The signed Federal Register notice states that written comments should be submitted by September 9, 2026. Comments may address whether the collection is necessary, whether FAA’s burden estimate is accurate and whether the information could be clearer or less burdensome.
OMB may later decide the renewal request, but the August notice does not establish a decision.
More generally, federal aviation law assigns the FAA a central role in airman certification.
