The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has submitted a draft proposal to the European Commission, for consideration this November, to extend the current license validity for pilots with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) operational Level 4 language proficiency from the three years recommended by ICAO to four years.
EASA reasons that this is a more convenient time frame for license renewal. Although the three-year interval between retesting is an ICAO recommendation and not a standard, it is a minimum that is universally applied, with some states in South America and the Baltic having even legislated for a two-year validity.
The arguments against such an extension merit serious consideration.
Such a decision would introduce two norms within Europe: a four-year cycle for pilots and a three-year cycle for air traffic controllers. And it hardly seems compliant with EASA’s own Basic Regulation 216/2008 “to assist member states in fulfilling their obligations …
