How to Track Pilot Currency for Your Flight School (FAR 61.56 & 61.57 Guide)

In a flight school, pilot currency is a binary state: you're either legal, or you're a liability. And yet, most flight schools track it the same way they did 20 years ago: a spreadsheet, a shared calendar, or worse, memory.

This guide breaks down exactly what currency records you need to track for each student, the regulations that govern them, and how modern flight school management software like SkyBookings makes the whole process automatic.

What Is Pilot Currency — and Why Does It Matter for Flight Schools?

Pilot currency refers to the set of FAA requirements a pilot must meet to legally exercise the privileges of their certificate. Unlike currency for personal pilots, flight schools carry an extra layer of responsibility: if a school allows a student to fly an aircraft while out of currency, the school can face enforcement action, not just the pilot.

The four currency items you need to track for every student are:

• Flight Review (commonly called the BFR) — required under FAR 61.56
• Medical Certificate — required under FAR 61.23
• Recent Landing Experience — required under FAR 61.57
• IFR Currency (for instrument-rated students) — required under FAR 61.57(c)

Let's look at each one.

Flight Review — FAR 61.56

Every pilot acting as pilot in command must complete a Flight Review every 24 calendar months. The review must include at least one hour of flight and one hour of ground training with a CFI. (The FAA officially dropped the word "Biennial" years ago — it's just a Flight Review now, though you'll still hear "BFR" everywhere.)

For flight schools, this means tracking the expiration date for every student who flies solo or as PIC. A student whose Flight Review lapses can't legally fly as PIC — but without a tracking system, it's easy to miss.

Practical tip: Set a 30-day warning threshold for Flight Review expirations. That gives you enough time to schedule a review flight before the student lapses — and before you have to pull them from the schedule at the last minute.

Medical Certificates — FAR 61.23

Medical certificate validity depends on the class of medical and the pilot's age. Here's a quick reference:

Most student pilots hold a Third Class medical, but as they progress through training and pursue commercial certificates, that changes. A good tracking system should handle all medical classes and calculate expiration automatically based on the issue date and class.

Recent Landing Experience — FAR 61.57

To carry passengers, a pilot must have made at least 3 takeoffs and 3 landings within the preceding 90 days. For night flight with passengers, those landings must be at night and to a full stop — per FAR 61.57(b), touch-and-goes don't satisfy night currency the way they can for daytime.

This is one of the trickier items to track manually because it's rolling — it changes every day based on what the pilot has flown. The safest approach is to record the date of the most recent qualifying landings and calculate the 90-day window automatically.

SkyBookings tracks this with a "last three landings" date field and automatically flags students whose currency is within 20 days of expiring.

IFR Currency — FAR 61.57(c)

Instrument-rated pilots must complete 6 instrument approaches, holding procedures, and intercepting/tracking courses within the preceding 6 calendar months to remain IFR current.

Unlike other currency items, IFR currency is harder to calculate from raw data — you need to know what approaches were flown and when. Most flight schools have their CFIs confirm IFR currency periodically, then log an expiration date in their system.

How SkyBookings Handles Currency Tracking

SkyBookings includes a built-in pilot currency module for every student profile. Here's what it tracks automatically:

1. Flight Review expiration date — with color-coded status (green/yellow/red)
2. Medical certificate class and expiration — calculated from issue date
3. Last three landings date — calculates the 90-day window automatically
4. IFR current-until date — set by admin after CFI confirmation

Admins get a consolidated currency dashboard that shows all students in a single view, sorted by who is expiring soonest. Students see their own currency status on their dashboard so they can proactively schedule reviews.

The result: no more surprise lapses, no more last-minute scheduling scrambles, and no more liability exposure from students flying out of currency.

Setting Up Currency Tracking at Your Flight School

If you're starting from scratch — or migrating from a spreadsheet — here's the recommended setup process:

1. Gather current records — Collect Flight Review dates, medical certificates, and last landing dates for all active students.
2. Enter baseline data — Input each student's current expiration dates into your system. SkyBookings lets you do this from the Admin › Currency page.
3. Set alert thresholds — Configure warning periods for each currency type. We recommend 30 days for Flight Reviews and medicals, 20 days for landing recency.
4. Review weekly — Make currency review part of your weekly admin routine. The dashboard makes it a 2-minute task.
5. Train your CFIs — Make sure instructors know to log landing dates after every lesson so currency data stays current.

The Bottom Line

Manual pilot currency tracking isn't just inefficient — it's a risk. One missed expiration can ground a student, disrupt your schedule, and expose your school to liability. Modern flight school software eliminates that risk entirely.

SkyBookings is purpose-built for flight schools that take compliance seriously. Start a free trial today and see how much easier currency management can be.