Part 107 Recurrent Training and Keeping Your Certificate Current

On a commercial Part 107 job, Part 107 recurrent training is how you keep aeronautical knowledge current—not how you renew a plastic certificate that never expires. Under 14 CFR § 107.65, a person may not exercise the privileges of a remote pilot in command with a small UAS rating unless that person has accomplished one of the listed knowledge or training options in a manner acceptable to the Administrator within the previous 24 calendar months. This article is an educational map of that recency rule and the common FAASTeam online paths—not legal advice, and it invents no fines. Confirm the live eCFR and FAA materials before you fly.

What § 107.65 actually requires

14 CFR § 107.65 (aeronautical knowledge recency) lists the pathways. In plain field language, within the previous 24 calendar months you generally need to have:

• Passed an initial aeronautical knowledge test covering the areas in § 107.73; or
• Completed recurrent training covering the areas in § 107.73; or
• If you hold a Part 61 pilot certificate (other than student) and meet the flight review requirements in § 61.56, completed training covering the areas in § 107.74

The controlling idea is recency of knowledge, measured in calendar months. A calendar month includes all days in that month. FAA educational materials have long explained the practical effect: completing recurrent training on a given date generally supports exercising privileges through the end of the calendar month 24 months later—verify the current FAA explanation for your completion date rather than inventing a private formula.

If your last qualifying test or training falls outside that window, you do not “kinda still have” Part 107 privileges for hire. Finish an acceptable pathway first, then exercise PIC privileges again.

The certificate does not expire—the completion proof does the work

A common mix-up: pilots talk about “renewing Part 107” as if a new plastic card arrives in the mail. Per the FAA FAQ on online ALC recurrent training, after you complete the appropriate online ALC training course to renew currency, the FAA does not issue a new remote pilot certificate. The certificate does not expire. Completion of the appropriate online ALC course renews recency of aeronautical knowledge for 24 calendar months, and you must be able to show a copy of your certificate of completion as proof of currency.

Practical ops habit: download and archive the completion certificate the day you finish the course. Cloud logins fail; job files should not depend on “I think I took it last spring.”

FAASTeam online recurrent: ALC-677 and ALC-515

The FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam) hosts free online recurrent courses on FAASafety.gov. FAA notices and news materials describe the common split this way:

• ALC-677 — Part 107 Small UAS Recurrent (Non–Part 61 Pilots) — Designed for remote pilots who do not hold a Part 61 pilot certificate (or who lack a current flight review under § 61.56) and need recurrent training to remain current under Part 107. FAA materials also note that Part 107 certificate holders more broadly may be eligible for this course; if you hold only Part 107, this is typically the course you take.
• ALC-515 — Part 107 Small UAS Recurrent — For Part 107 remote pilots who are also certificated under Part 61 and current on the § 61.56 flight review, per FAA guidance on that course’s eligibility.

Follow the “Training Credit” instructions inside each course so credit posts correctly. Print or save the completion certificate when you finish. Course pages and FAA summaries can be updated; use the live FAASafety.gov listing and the live § 107.65 text as the source of truth—not a blog memory of last year’s menu.

Initial knowledge testing for people who do not yet hold a remote pilot certificate remains a separate path through an FAA-approved knowledge testing center. That is how you get the certificate, not how most already-certificated pilots keep recency after the online recurrent option became available.

Calendar months, not “exactly 730 days from the hour”

Recency is framed in 24 calendar months. That is why pilots and training hosts talk about “through the end of the month” rather than a minute-level countdown. When you plan a busy inspection season, check your completion certificate date early—do not discover a lapsed window the morning a client expects wheels-up.

If you let recency lapse, the fix is to complete an acceptable § 107.65 pathway again before exercising privileges—not to invent a grace period. This site does not publish invented civil-penalty amounts or “typical ticket” stories for flying after a lapsed window.

What recurrent training is not

• Not a new plastic remote pilot certificate in the mail
• Not a substitute for waivers, airspace authorizations, or other Part 107 operating rules
• Not optional paperwork you can skip because “I fly every week”
• Not a reason to invent fine schedules or enforcement folklore
• Not legal advice from this article—read the regulation and FAA materials yourself or with counsel when your facts are unusual

Crew currency conversations on a commercial job should be boring and documented: who is PIC, when was their last qualifying test or ALC completion, and where is the PDF.

Field checklist (high level)

1. Confirm the PIC who will exercise privileges has a qualifying § 107.65 event inside the previous 24 calendar months
2. Choose the correct FAASTeam course for your Part 61 / flight-review situation (ALC-677 vs ALC-515 per current FAA guidance)
3. Complete the course, obtain the completion certificate, and save it with your job/ops records
4. Re-check the live eCFR § 107.65 text if your situation involves older test pathways or unusual Part 61 status
5. Do not schedule revenue PIC work on a hope that “it should still be good”

Soft ops note

Knowledge recency is regulatory; job files are operational hygiene. Some commercial teams keep crew certificates and completion PDFs with the same job record in tools such as Pilot Ledger; the controlling text remains § 107.65 and the FAA materials linked above.

Bottom line

Part 107 recurrent training keeps aeronautical knowledge current under 14 CFR § 107.65 on a 24-calendar-month clock. FAASTeam online courses such as ALC-677 (commonly for non–Part 61 / non-current flight-review situations) and ALC-515 (Part 61 with current flight review, per FAA guidance) are the usual free paths for already-certificated remote pilots. The remote pilot certificate itself does not expire; your completion certificate is the proof of currency. This article invents no fines and authorizes no flight—read the live eCFR and FAA FAQ before you launch.