DOJ Sets Foreign Student Standards (Finally)

The world is now open to U.S. flight schools, 16 months after security concerns closed a significant part of their business. The Department of Justice Thursday announced that as of March 17 it would allow non-U.S. citizens to take first-time type training in aircraft weighing more than 12,500 lbs. Foreign nationals with current certificates have been able to take recurrent and other training. The ban applied only to those applying for the first time to fly larger aircraft.The ban has cost flight schools and airlines millions of dollars. U.S. flight training is coveted in most countries and many flight schools had a significant percentage of foreign students before 9/11.