These measures are designed to manage safety risks while providing operators and individuals relief during the COVID-19 pandemic where circumstances prevent activities from being completed in accordance with current regulations:

• Exemptions have been made for pilots, cabin crew, air traffic controllers and operators for medical certificates, recurrent training, flight reviews and proficiency checks
• If your medical certificate expires in March or later, you can continue operating without a current certificate for up to six months
• You can continue flying if your proficiency check or flight review expires on or after 31 March 2020. If it’s for an AOC operator, the exemption ends on 30 June 2020. For other operations, the exemption extends to 31 December 2020
• Mandatory training that cannot be completed for dangerous goods, drug and alcohol management plans and emergency procedures is exempt until 30 June.

CASA is also helping operators to plan longer term. You will be able to submit a safety risk mitigation plan to CASA to approve variations to training and checking requirements up to 31 March 2021 – when training and checking is expected to be back to normal. Plans need to be submitted by 31 May 2020.

These measures are in addition to the following general exemptions:

• If you have an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) or a Part 141/142 Certificate, it will be extended through an administrative process by six months. You do not need to do anything.
• If you are a pilot or an air traffic controller, you will be able to exercise the privileges of your licence for six months after the expiration of any medical certificate you hold. The conditions on your medical certificate will continue to apply. You do not need to do anything.
• If your current flight review or proficiency check expires after 1 March 2020, you will be able to continue to use all the privileges of your licence for a further three months from when it expires. You will need to apply to extend these arrangements beyond the 3 months.
• Operators will have relief from Part 61 proficiency checking and flight review as well as training and checking requirements up to 30 June 2020. Further relief options are being developed.

For more information, visit the CASA website.