Are Private Charter Flights Safe?

One question that we always get from clients who are new to business jet and airline charters is whether they are safe or as safe as flights on commercial airlines. This is a very logical question and fortunately the answer to our charter air service customers is a resounding YES.

At Air Charter Team, concern for safety is the first priority with our charter flights. First and foremost we utilize a select group of Part 135 and Part 121 operators for our private charters. For those of you unfamiliar with aviation terms Part 135 and Part 121 refer to the federal regulations that airline and charter operators have to adhere to in order to retain their certification for selling flight services to the public. This is a very stringent regulatory environment and the operators of the business jet charters and airline charters are held to a very high standard on their maintenance programs and their flight safety training and in-flight standards.

Air Charter Team has contracted with Aviation Research Group (ARG/US) to provide our charter flight customers with comprehensive safety information on the charter flight companies and charter flight pilots we utilize on your behalf. The report we receive on each charter flight company and pilot gives us the background and safety information we need to make a sensible decision on who to use for your charter flight.

The ARG/US CHEQ Report provides Air Charter Team customers with:

• Complete, in depth safety reports on your charter plane operator
• Instantly access charter flight pilots experience and historical safety ratings
• Primary source for your due-diligence
• Instantly searches:
• Charter Flight Pilot Certificates
• Charter Plane Registration
• Charter Plane Operator Certificates
• Accident and Incident Report
• Enforcement Actions
• Ownership and Management

ARG/US exhaustively researches the most up to date information available on multiple databases to generate a comprehensive report on indicators and events that could impact the relative safety of charter flight operators. The databases are constantly updated to reflect recent activity as well as historical events. The databases searched for the reports include pilot certificates, charter plane registrations, operator certificates, accidents, incidents, service difficulty reports, enforcement actions, ownership and management.

Together, this data is weighed and formatted into an easy to read executive summary, an ARG/US rating, a graphic representation of the charter flight operators three year safety rating trend, and a comprehensive detail of the findings.

The CHEQ report (Charter Evaluation and Qualification report) has three major components: historical safety ratings, current charter flight aircraft and pilot background checks, and on-site safety audits. Analysis of these components results in four potential levels of safety rating: DNQ, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Each level reflects analysis and ranking based on increasing amounts of detailed information on the charter operator. The CHEQ system is the most comprehensive and detailed safety analysis program in the charter services industry.