Do not kid yourself. The FAA has authorized 3 and only three every expensive tests. In a memo dated 2023, the acting deputy federal air surgeon wrote to AMEs,“Note that under the proposed new policy, the testing FREQUENCY WILL DECREASE.”
The Acting DFAS goes on to list the prices of these “new and improved” tests, $8,828.82, $3995, or $999.00. So, the FAA says, you have to buy these new tests, they will be not used very much and absorbe the overhead. When challenged by the costs of this, the FAA says to AMES, “we don’t set your prices, and you should make money on these exams.” This is true, but they do set our overhead and I invested in equipment the FAA says is necessary, including the present color vision testing (Ishihara and the correct color and intensity lamp), EKG machines and the like. Now, machines that cost 10-100 times the present test costs. Pilots can expect their initial medical certificates to cost substantially more, unless they want to be restricted to day, VFR flight and a Class 3 medical.
Now as for send you to another location (neuro-opthalmology is the most likely referral), that will not be cheap, will be time consuming and will discourage pilots from pursuing that initial private pilot certificate. You will pay for the consultation and the test if I know how things like this generally work.
I did a quick survey shortly after the seminar, of all the optometrists and opthalmologists in my county and the next county and NONE of them had the FAA approved tests. I went further and called my colleages at Kellogg Eye Center at the University of Michigan and Wilmer at Johns Hopkins and neither of the two top ranked eye care centers used any of the FAA approved tests.
So, what will happen? AMEs will not eat this cost, some will say enough and there are other changes coming that I think are actually worse. This will create a greater shortage of AMEs and the prices will go up.
Some AMEs will fork out the cash, but will need to recover the cost and new student pilot starts will be creamed with yet another extra cost of a vision exam resulting from an accident with multiple causes in 2003, blamed on a 16 year Navy pilot FO not being able to properly read a PAPI because of defective color vision, while flying with a 16000 hour ATP who landed short.
For my practice, I’ll offer the Class 3 with/without the new vision test and the restriction, and buy the best deal I can get, but I will have to charge probably an extra 75-100 bucks to cover the cost of the stuff. No one within 500 miles of me has this equipment including the big Universities that I can find. So send outs with all that entails is not an option. For First & Second, new issuances, they have no choice.
And then there’s the new FAA Special issuance policy…don’t even get me started.