FAR §61.57: Pilot Currency Requirements Explained

FAR §61.57 establishes the recency of experience requirements a pilot must meet before carrying passengers. It does not measure skill. It measures legal eligibility. Many pilots conflate currency with proficiency, but the distinction is critical. Currency is a regulatory minimum, a binary threshold that determines whether the FAA permits a pilot to carry passengers or fly in IMC. Proficiency is a higher operational standard reflecting actual flying competence. A pilot can be legally current and dangerously unproficient. The regulations enforce one; sound judgment must enforce the other.