Personnel Licensing

Personnel Licensing (PEL) is a department within the Directorate of Aviation Safety, Security and Regulations. (DASSR). The Manager Personnel Licensing (MPEL) reports to the Director Aviation Safety, Security and Regulations and is responsible for the oversight of ICAO Annex 1 requirements in Kenya. To discharge its responsibilities, the PEL Department has to carry out many functions/tasks which are normally organized around five major functional areas:

  1. Examinations (flight crew, aircraft maintenance personnel, air traffic controller, etc.),
  2. Licensing,
  3. Training,
  4. Regulatory,
  5. Administration.

Aviation Examinations

The Personnel Licensing department conducts written examination for issue of licenses to Pilots, Flight dispatchers and Engineers.

PEL conducts examination as per the Examination Schedule published at the beginning of every year. The examinations timetable for the year 2024 is available here

Below are some general guidelines on booking and payment of examinations:

  1. All examinations are booked at KCAA Personnel Licensing office.
  2. Applicants are required to provide the Personnel Licensing office (where applicable), with the instructors’ written recommendation certifying that the applicant has been instructed and is qualified to sit for the examination sought.
  3. All examination fees shall be paid on booking and not later than the set booking date.
  4. Applicants who cancel the examination booking by the booking date will be credited with the examination fees.
  5. Applicants who cancel the examination booking after the booking date and before the examination date shall be credited with 50% of the examination fees.
  6. Applicants who do not turn up for the booked examination will lose the examination fees.
  7. Candidates who report ill for an examination will be required to submit a medical report from a medical doctor before being allowed to sit for the booked examination.
  8. Based on the medical report which should be presented to the booking office by the examination date or other reasonable excuses, candidates may be allowed to sit the booked examination without losing the examination fees already paid; and
  9. No cash refund for any fees paid.

Licensing Tasks

Licensing tasks cover the routine tasks associated with the physical issuance and maintenance of personnel licences and include:

  1. Issuing and renewing licences, adding ratings and issuing temporary approvals or special authorizations.
  2. Drafting detailed procedures for licensing staff;
  3. Evaluating foreign licences and certificates, and military pilot qualifications, and taking appropriate action, including consultation with the State of licence issue as necessary;
  4. Reviewing the limitations and recent experience of flight crew members, maintenance personnel, air traffic controllers and ground operators and taking the necessary action;

Training Tasks

Training tasks cover the activities related to the certification, approval and surveillance of training organizations (or schools) and training programs. These tasks include:

  1. Studying the PEL training standards and making the necessary recommendations for improvement of domestic and foreign training programmes and oversight;
  2. Developing and executing plans for the surveillance of different aviation training activities;
  3. Reviewing training curricula and programmes submitted for approval;
  4. Approving training organizations and training sections at operational and maintenance organizations, air traffic control units;
  5. Qualifying flight simulation training devices, conducting their recurrent evaluations and authorizing their use for defined training tasks;
  6. Exercising continued surveillance of approved training organizations, in cooperation with other Contracting States as necessary;
  7. Organizing training for PEL Inspectors to ensure continued competency.
Regulatory Tasks

Regulatory tasks cover the development and maintenance of the regulatory support of personnel licensing and include:

  1. Drafting and amending regulations and rules (or specific operating regulations) related to the training and licensing of aviation personnel;
  2. Enforcing licensing laws and regulations; and
  3. Developing procedures, taking into account best practices and applicable quality standards.

Administrative Tasks

Administrative tasks include:

  1. Maintaining an up-to-date, efficient and secure record system for licensing, certification, designation, approval and authorization actions;
  2. Maintaining lists of Aviation Medical Examiners and Designated Examiners;
  3. Maintaining currency of all regulatory material and PEL documents in use by staff;
  4. Drafting and promulgating examination schedules;
  5. Printing and collating examination papers and distributing them in order to meet the published scheduled times;
  6. Handling routine correspondence in respect of requests for matters such as study guidance material, dates of examinations, application forms and examination fees;
  7. Dealing with the public when necessary on matters related to:
    1. Scheduled examinations;
    2. Licence, rating, approval or examination applications; and
    3. Requests for regulatory interpretation;
    4. Handling routine correspondence with respect to applications for licences or ratings, flight tests or other routine clerical matters;
    5. Processing all licence applications and preparing the material for review and action by technical licensing officers;
    6. Completing licence forms and preparing licences for official signature; and
    7. Managing the PEL Department computer database.