Passenger-Carrying Currency: the 90-Day Rule (61.57)
The takeoffs and landings you need in the last 90 days before you can carry passengers by day or by night, and why it never limits flying solo.
Being current and being qualified are different things. Your certificate and flight review let you act as pilot in command; currency under 14 CFR 61.57 is the separate, rolling requirement you need before you may carry passengers.
Day passenger currency
To carry passengers, you must have made three takeoffs and three landings within the preceding 90 days, acting as sole manipulator of the controls, in an aircraft of the same category and class (and type, if a type rating is required). In a tailwheel aircraft the landings must be to a full stop; in a nosewheel aircraft a touch-and-go counts.
Night passenger currency
To carry passengers at night, you need a further three takeoffs and three full-stop landings within the preceding 90 days, made during the period from one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise. Note that this window is *not* the same as the regulatory definition of "night" — it is a stricter, currency-specific clock.
It never grounds you solo
The 90-day rule only governs carrying passengers. If you lapse, you may still fly solo to regain currency — go make three takeoffs and landings (three full-stop at night) and you are current again. There is no checkride and no instructor sign-off required.
Track it
Enter your last qualifying flights in the currency tracker to see when day and night passenger currency lapse. Remember that instrument currency, the flight review and your medical are separate clocks you must also keep.
---
*Reference and training only — not for navigation or as legal advice. Always consult the current 14 CFR, the AIM, your aircraft’s POH/AFM and a certificated flight instructor.*