FAA BasicMed in 2026: Expanded Limits and What Did Not Change
BasicMed already covers qualifying aircraft up to 12,500 pounds and six passengers. See the current limits, eligibility steps and common expansion myths.
Organizational byline
Updated July 16, 2026
7 min read
The main BasicMed expansion is not a 2026 proposal. Congress enacted it in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, and the FAA updated its rules in November 2024.
As of this review on 16 July 2026, the FAA's BasicMed summary says a qualifying pilot may use BasicMed in an aircraft authorised to carry no more than seven occupants and with a maximum certificated takeoff weight no greater than 12,500 pounds. The operation may carry no more than six passengers and remains subject to the familiar altitude, speed, geography and compensation limits.
This page replaces an earlier article that invented a February 2026 notice of proposed rulemaking, an FL250 limit, removal of the prior-medical requirement and a new international operating area. Those claims were not supported by the current FAA record.
What changed in 2024
Before the 2024 expansion, a covered aircraft was limited to six occupants and 6,000 pounds, and the operation could carry no more than five passengers.
Section 828 of the 2024 Reauthorization Act changed those aircraft limits. The FAA's implementing record increased them to:
- no more than seven occupants authorised for the aircraft;
- no more than 12,500 pounds maximum certificated takeoff weight; and
- no more than six passengers carried in the operation.
Section 815 also allowed qualifying pilot examiners to use BasicMed while conducting practical tests or proficiency checks. The FAA published its conforming final rule on 18 November 2024; it was not waiting on a 2026 proposal.
The agency's current BasicMed page includes the expanded limits and says eligible pilots can operate under them now.
The current aircraft and operating limits
The FAA summary states that a BasicMed operation must use a qualifying aircraft that:
- is authorised under federal law to carry no more than seven occupants; and
- has a maximum certificated takeoff weight of no more than 12,500 pounds.
The flight must:
- carry no more than six passengers;
- operate under VFR or IFR;
- remain at or below 18,000 feet MSL;
- not exceed 250 knots indicated airspeed; and
- not be operated for compensation or hire.
The FAA's public summary describes operations within the United States. The regulation also addresses another country in which BasicMed is authorised, so an international flight requires a destination-specific acceptance check; BasicMed is not a universal substitute for an ICAO medical certificate.
Weight alone does not answer whether an aircraft is covered. Check its maximum certificated takeoff weight, authorised occupant count, category and any exclusions in the current definition. Then check whether the proposed operation fits the passenger, speed, altitude, geographic and compensation limits.
Who can use BasicMed
For the ordinary path, the pilot must:
- hold a valid U.S. driver's licence;
- have held an FAA medical certificate at any time after 14 July 2006;
- have had the most recent medical application completed and the most recent certificate held without the disqualifying denial, suspension, revocation or withdrawal conditions described by the rule;
- complete the Comprehensive Medical Examination Checklist with a state-licensed physician; and
- complete an approved BasicMed medical education course and retain the required records.
The FAA says BasicMed can be used by pilots exercising private-pilot privileges as PIC or as a required flightcrew member, such as a safety pilot, and by qualifying flight instructors and pilot examiners.
BasicMed is not a new airman certificate or rating. The pilot still needs the certificate, ratings, endorsements, recent experience and aircraft qualifications required for the flight.
The examination and course clocks are different
BasicMed uses two recurring actions.
The medical education course is completed during the 24 calendar months before acting under BasicMed. The comprehensive medical examination is completed during the 48 months before the flight, calculated under the current rule. Keep the course completion certificate and signed examination checklist in the logbook or other required record storage.
Do not treat the physician visit as an FAA medical examination. The physician completes the BasicMed checklist and discusses the listed items, while the pilot remains responsible for medical self-assessment before every flight.
The Part 68 medical-education requirements include self-assessment, warning signs, risk management, medication awareness and encouragement of regular medical care.
Conditions that need one special issuance first
BasicMed does not remove every FAA medical-certification step. The FAA identifies specified mental-health, neurological and cardiovascular conditions that require a one-time special issuance before the person may operate under BasicMed.
Its current list includes, within the definitions and conditions stated by the rule, certain psychosis, bipolar, severe personality-disorder and substance-dependence histories; epilepsy and specified unexplained disturbances of consciousness or nervous-system control; and myocardial infarction, treated coronary heart disease, cardiac valve replacement or heart replacement.
This is an area for the current rule, the pilot's treating clinician and, where needed, an aviation medical examiner or FAA medical-certification specialist. A summary article cannot determine an individual's eligibility.
What did not change
The prior-medical requirement remains
The FAA still says the pilot must have held a medical after 14 July 2006. A person who has never held the qualifying medical cannot simply begin with the BasicMed checklist and course.
The altitude limit is still 18,000 feet MSL
The expansion did not create an FL250 ceiling. BasicMed operations remain at or below 18,000 feet MSL under the FAA's current summary.
The speed limit is still 250 knots indicated
Moving the aircraft weight ceiling to 12,500 pounds did not change the 250-knot operating limit.
It does not authorise compensation or hire
The operation may not be conducted for compensation or hire. Flight-instructor and examiner privileges involve specific regulatory treatment; they should not be generalised into authority for any paid carriage.
It is not automatic international acceptance
Another country decides whether and under what conditions it accepts BasicMed. Verify that acceptance and all normal cross-border requirements before flight.
Does a larger aircraft automatically qualify now?
No. The 12,500-pound ceiling widened the possible aircraft set, but the exact aircraft and operation must satisfy every condition.
A useful preflight eligibility check is:
- Confirm the pilot meets 14 CFR 61.23 and Part 68.
- Confirm the aircraft's certificated weight and authorised occupant count.
- Check any category exclusions and operating limitations.
- Count passengers, not merely empty seats.
- Confirm the planned altitude and indicated airspeed.
- Confirm the operation is not for compensation or hire.
- Check international acceptance when leaving the United States.
- Check that the pilot's course, examination, ratings and recent experience remain current.
Aircraft examples are risky shortcuts because variants, modifications, type certificates and seating approvals differ. Use the records for the actual aircraft rather than a model-name list.
The 2026 bottom line
BasicMed is broader than it was in 2023, but the important expansion already happened. The current limits are 12,500 pounds, seven authorised occupants and six passengers, while the 18,000-foot, 250-knot, prior-medical and no-compensation-or-hire boundaries remain.
For a real flight, use the current FAA page and regulations, then resolve medical-history or aircraft-eligibility questions before relying on BasicMed as the medical qualification.
