The FAA will apply strict safety regulations to public charter flights

The Federal Aviation Administration has announced plans to subject public charter flights to stringent safety regulations.

The FAA said it will explore new ways to integrate charter flights into the airspace in a way that provides flexibility and safe options for all passengers.

The FAA has stated that it intends to begin rulemaking to amend its Part 110 definitions of “scheduled”, “requested” and “additional” operations. Once finalized, public charters will be subject to operational rules based on the same safety parameters as other non-public charter operations.

“Part of the FAA’s safety mission is to identify risks early, and that’s what we’re doing for public charters as usage increases. “If a company is effectively operating as a scheduled airline, the FAA must determine whether such operations should follow the same stringent rules as scheduled airlines,” said FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker.

The FAA has stated that it intends to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking quickly. Under each proposed rule, the FAA will seek comment on an effective date that would allow the industry to adapt to any changes in the regulatory environment. The FAA’s plans follow an initial request for comment on the matter in August 2023, in which the agency received and evaluated approximately 60,000 public comments.

Additionally, the federal aviation authority said it will explore options for adapting aircraft sizes and certification standards to meet the operational needs of air services in small communities and rural areas. Specifically, the FAA will convene a Safety Risk Management Panel (SRMP) to evaluate the feasibility of establishing a new operational authority to conduct regular Part 135 operations on 10-30 seat airplanes. The panel will dig deeper into the data as we work to address the threats that exist today, as well as the future of the national airspace system.

In recent years, the frequency and complexity of public charter flights have increased dramatically. Some services appear to operate like regular airlines but are subject to less stringent safety regulations – a fact that is often not transparent to passengers.

by Joji XavierRTTNews Staff Writer

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