Pueblo, Colorado, has removed language from a draft update to Pueblo Memorial Airport’s minimum standards that would have limited permitted flight instructors to 100 hours of flight instruction per year. The proposed cap, which would have been measured by Hobbs meter reading, was part of a broader draft addressing commercial aeronautical activities at the airport.
City Revises Draft
“The Minimum Standards for Commercial Aeronautical Activities are a proposal in draft form and remain under active public review,” the city said in a statement provided to AVweb. “They have not been adopted. The City invited public comment on the proposal and received comments from airport users, including on Section 12.02. In response, the City has revised the draft.”
The June 22 draft included a section allowing individual flight instructors to obtain commercial aeronautical service provider permits at the airport. It also would have allowed the airport manager to inspect instructor logbooks periodically to verify compliance with the proposed limit.
100-Hour Limit Removed
“The revised draft removes the proposed 100-hour annual limit on permitted flight instruction, together with the related provisions that measured activity by Hobbs meter reading and that called for periodic inspection of instructor logbooks,” the city said. “Because the limit is being removed, the questions about how it would have applied are no longer part of the proposal.”
The earlier proposal drew attention among pilots after an excerpt from Section 12.02 was posted to Reddit’s r/flying forum. AVweb has not yet been able to review the new version of the draft without the CFI cap language.
The FAA’s 2025 Airport Sponsor Assurances require federally obligated airports to make airport facilities available for public use on reasonable terms and without unjust discrimination to aeronautical activities, and also prohibit exclusive rights for aeronautical service providers. The city said it reviews its airport standards for consistency with those obligations.
Council Review Scheduled
“The City develops and reviews its airport standards to be consistent with its obligations as a federally obligated airport sponsor, including economic nondiscrimination and the prohibition on exclusive rights,” the city said. “The revisions reflect that review.”
The revised draft is scheduled to go before the Pueblo City Council on July 13.
