The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported that pilots will now be able stay updated online on their pending medical certificates thanks to a new feature on MedXPress.

Until now, pilots had to check their application status by calling the Office of Aerospace Medicine for information, the FAA reported in a release. Pilots' applications require vaccination against COVID-19 for approval, among other criteria, so being able to track an application's progress in real time is convenient.

"If you can track where your ridesharing car is or the status of a company delivering your package, pilots should be able to see online the real-time status of their application," Dr. Susan Northrup, federal air surgeon for the FAA, said in the release. "We will continue to explore how we can be more transparent with the aviation community."

Pilots will still receive information about their status through the mail, but they now have the opportunity to correct any problems that may arise throughout the process, the FAA reported.

"As soon as an application is submitted, it will appear in the pilot's MedXPress profile," the FAA reported. "Status updates will change as the application moves through the FAA's review process. If an application is deferred or denied, the applicant will receive detailed information through the mail."