What is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)?
The FAA is the United States government body responsible for all civil aviation regulation within the country’s airspace and surrounding international waters. More importantly for anyone who wants to make a living flying, the FAA oversees who is able to award pilot certification in the United States.
A pilot may be certified under 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 61 or 14 CFR Part 141 (if a student at an approved part 141 school). Pilots may also be certified under 14 CFR Part 107 for commercial drone operations.
An FAA-issued pilot certificate is evidence that an individual is duly authorized to exercise piloting privileges. The pilot certificate is one of several kinds of airman certificates issued by the FAA.