The Single Pilot Citation is Dead | EP 60

For more than four decades, one story helped define the legacy Citation market:This is the jet you can fly yourself.Your first jet. Your hands on the throttles. Your family in the back. Nobody required in the right seat.At the end of September 2026, that story changed.The FAA ended the single-pilot exemptions that allowed qualifying pilots to operate a group of Part 25-certified legacy Citations without the second pilot their type certificates otherwise required.VREF’s analysis puts the affected U.S. civil fleet at 1,212 aircraft.In this episode:Which Citation models are affected—and which are notWhy affected aircraft are not grounded, but now require a qualified second in commandWhy former exemption-based single-pilot endorsements no longer authorize solo operationHow the exemption system was supposed to work—and what the FAA says it found when it began reviewing it in 2024Why 13 of 14 Part 61 exemption holders ultimately losing or being denied continued authority mattersAllegations involving incomplete records, improper checks, unauthorized simulator training, and falsified recordsWhy Jason says the FAA review began before the two high-profile 2025 crashesThe difference between what Jason calls the “paper system failing” and a broader culture in which flying these aircraft alone had become normalizedWhy the Citation 501/551 SP models, Mustang, and CitationJet/CJ family through the CJ4 are outside this actionWhy the rule may shrink the buyer pool for older legacy CitationsHow adding a second pilot can materially change annual operating costsWhy a representative 60-hour-per-year Citation II owner could see effective operating cost rise from roughly $1,800 per hour to more than $3,000 per hour once realistic crew costs are includedWhat VREF found inside the affected fleet: 1,212 aircraft, existing inventory, aging airframes, dealer holdings, and parts-company acquisitionsWhy the older legacy Citation market was already weakening before this ruleWhy Jason says the FAA action didn’t create the whole problem—it “takes away the floor”The 57 affected aircraft VREF identified in dealer inventory, including 42 not publicly listedAt least 22 affected aircraft purchased by parts companies since 2021Why the Citation II versus Citation II SP may become one of the cleanest real-world valuation experiments in aviationWhat owners should do now: confirm crew requirements, call the insurance broker, price a qualified SIC, recalculate annual economics, and decide whether to crew up, sell, or move into an aircraft certified for single-pilot operationVREF.comFly safe. Stay smart.