May 4, 2026. Media contact: media@raa.org
Washington, D.C. — The Regional Airline Association (RAA) expressed disappointment with the Department of Education’s decision, as part of its RISE rulemaking, not to increase federal student loan caps for FAA-certified Part 141 flight training programs by reclassifying them as graduate or professional programs.
“Flight education routinely costs well into six figures, yet students remain subject to undergraduate federal loan caps that were never designed to support them,” said RAA President & CEO Faye Malarkey Black. “As a result, capable young people are effectively barred from high-wage, high-demand pilot careers because they have no realistic path to bridge the gap.”
There was clear bipartisan support for a targeted fix. More than 30 U.S. Senators—led by Senator Dan Sullivan and Senator Tammy Baldwin—joined by a coalition of 46 aviation stakeholders representing all walks of aviation employers—urged the Department to make this narrow, commonsense change.
Given that 13.4% of the qualified pilot workforce will reach their mandatory retirement age within five years, access to training should not be the limiting factor blocking the pilot career path. When students cannot finance training, airlines lose talent and communities lose air service, particularly in small and rural areas.
Congress should now send a clear and unambiguous signal to the Department to act. RAA will continue working with lawmakers to align federal student aid with the real cost of flight training, ensuring that capability, not access to wealth, determines who becomes a pilot.
The Regional Airline Association (RAA) provides a unified voice of advocacy for North American regional airlines aimed at promoting a safe, reliable, and strong regional airline industry. RAA serves as an important support network connecting regional airlines and industry business partners. Regional airlines operate 32% of U.S. scheduled passenger flights and provide the only source of scheduled air service to 64% of the nation’s airports. Regional airlines provide more than 70% of the air service in West Virginia (92%), Alaska (85%), North Dakota (80%), Kansas (75%), Arkansas (75%), Alabama (75%), and Vermont (74%). Regional airlines provide more than half of the air service in Mississippi (68%), South Dakota (68%), Maine (67%), Idaho (67%), Wyoming (66%), New Hampshire (63%), Montana (63%), Wisconsin (53%), Iowa (53%), Virginia (52%), Kentucky (51%), and Indiana (51%).