Whether you are a private pilot, a professional pilot, or an aircraft owner (or any combination thereof), it is vital that you provide your latest mailing address to the FAA. In fact, you are required to provide the FAA with notice of a change in your mailing address within 30 days. This applies whether you are the owner of an aircraft registered with the FAA under Part 47 (FAR 47.45); a pilot, flight instructor, or ground instructor under Part 61 (FAR 61.60); a flight engineer or flight navigator under Part 63 (FAR 63.21); an air traffic control tower operator, aircraft dispatcher, mechanic, repairman, or parachute rigger under Part 65 (FAR 65.21); or an sUAS pilot under Part 107 (FAR 107.77).
In addition to being a violation in its own right, the failure to update your mailing address can have dire, unintended consequences. For example, the failure to update your mailing address with the aircraft registry can lead to an expired (or worse, cancelled) registration, making your aircraft unairworthy. Additionally, if the FAA is taking action to suspend or revoke your certificate, you might not receive notice until it is too late to do anything about it. There are very specific deadlines you must meet to appeal an enforcement action and courts will not accept a failure to update your address as an excuse for an untimely appeal.
