The Single Pilot Citation is Dead | EP 60

<p>For more than four decades, one story helped define the legacy Citation market:</p><p><b><strong>This is the jet you can fly yourself.</strong></b></p><p>Your first jet. Your hands on the throttles. Your family in the back. Nobody required in the right seat.</p><p>At the end of September 2026, that story changed.</p><p>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.</p><p>VREF’s analysis puts the affected U.S. civil fleet at <b><strong>1,212 aircraft</strong></b>.</p>In this episode:<ul><li>Which Citation models are affected—and which are not</li><li>Why affected aircraft are not grounded, but now require a qualified second in command</li><li>Why former exemption-based single-pilot endorsements no longer authorize solo operation</li><li>How the exemption system was supposed to work—and what the FAA says it found when it began reviewing it in 2024</li><li>Why 13 of 14 Part 61 exemption holders ultimately losing or being denied continued authority matters</li><li>Allegations involving incomplete records, improper checks, unauthorized simulator training, and falsified records</li><li>Why Jason says the FAA review began before the two high-profile 2025 crashes</li><li>The difference between what Jason calls the “paper system failing” and a broader culture in which flying these aircraft alone had become normalized</li><li>Why the Citation 501/551 SP models, Mustang, and CitationJet/CJ family through the CJ4 are outside this action</li><li>Why the rule may shrink the buyer pool for older legacy Citations</li><li>How adding a second pilot can materially change annual operating costs</li><li>Why 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 included</li><li>What VREF found inside the affected fleet: 1,212 aircraft, existing inventory, aging airframes, dealer holdings, and parts-company acquisitions</li><li>Why the older legacy Citation market was already weakening before this rule</li><li>Why Jason says the FAA action didn’t create the whole problem—it <b><strong>“takes away the floor”</strong></b></li><li>The 57 affected aircraft VREF identified in dealer inventory, including 42 not publicly listed</li><li>At least 22 affected aircraft purchased by parts companies since 2021</li><