How to Vet a Charter Operator

Who is actually flying you

In the United States, on-demand charter is flown under Part 135 of the federal aviation regulations by an operator holding an air carrier certificate for that purpose. The certificate is issued and overseen by the FAA and carries the operator's specifications: the aircraft it may operate, the kinds of operations it may conduct, the areas it may serve. A broker, however capable, holds no such certificate. When a broker sells you a trip, a certificated operator performs it, and the operator's certificate, crew, and insurance are what protect you.

The first question in any charter is therefore simple: who holds the certificate for this flight? The answer should be a named company, and you should be able to confirm it. TRH Aviation is a broker and advisor, not an air carrier; every flight it arranges is operated by a Part 135 certificate holder, and it names the operator before you commit.

What the three standards measure

ARGUS

ARGUS International rates charter operators at three levels. Its Gold rating follows an in-depth historical and background evaluation of the operator, scored against operators with similar exposure. Gold Plus adds an on-site audit against ARGUS's Platinum standard. Platinum is awarded to experienced operators that meet the Gold criteria and pass the on-site Platinum safety audit. ARGUS also publishes operator due-diligence reports drawn from its CHEQ system, which scores operators on historical incident and accident data, aircraft validation, and pilot background checks. A rating tells you an operator has submitted to that scrutiny and where it landed; it does not describe a specific flight.

WYVERN

WYVERN maintains its own operator designations. Registered Operators share safety management data through WYVERN's compliance system. Wingman and Wingman PRO are certified designations maintained through ongoing participation in WYVERN's Flight Leader Program with structured quarterly coaching, according to WYVERN's own description. As with ARGUS, the designation attaches to the operator and reflects ongoing participation in a program, not an inspection of your trip.

IS-BAO

The International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations is administered by the International Business Aviation Council. IBAC describes it as a voluntary safety standard launched in 2002, the only ICAO-recognized industry standards program developed for business aviation, built around a safety management system. Registration has three stages. In IBAC's words, Stage 1 confirms that the SMS infrastructure is established and that safety management activities are appropriately targeted; Stage 2 ensures that safety risks are being effectively managed; Stage 3 verifies that safety management activities are fully integrated into the operator's business and a positive safety culture is being sustained. The stage tells you how mature the operator's safety system is judged to be.

Two cautions apply to all three. The ratings are voluntary and paid for by operators; an unrated operator is not necessarily unsafe, and a rated one is not necessarily the right fit for your trip. And the ratings are periodic; confirm that the rating quoted to you is current.

Beyond the ratings

The ratings answer whether the operator, as a company, has been examined. Several questions about your specific flight remain.

• Aircraft identity. Is the aircraft in the quote the one you will board, or a category with substitution allowed? If substitution is possible, on what terms?
• Operational control. Is the operator flying its own aircraft under its own certificate, or has the trip been placed with another operator? Placement is common and legitimate; you should know when it happens.
• Crew qualification. Both pilots' total time, time in type, and recency, and whether the operator's own standards exceed the regulatory minimums.
• Insurance. The liability limits carried for the flight, whether they are adequate to the passengers aboard, and whether you can be named as an additional insured or receive a certificate of insurance.
• Maintenance. Whether the aircraft is maintained under the operator's approved program and whether recent inspections are current.
• History. Any accidents, incidents, or enforcement actions in the operator's record, which the rating services report and the FAA's public records partly reflect.

How to check it yourself

None of this should take more than a day, and most of it should be in your broker's hands already. The point of independent sourcing is that the diligence runs on your side of the trip, not the operator's. Reading a charter quote covers the economics; the charter guide covers the market; and if you have a trip, send the mission.