How to Verify a Part 135 Operator Before You Book

Every legitimate charter operator in the United States holds an FAA Air Carrier Certificate issued under 14 CFR Part 135. The certificate has a unique designator (4 letters, e.g. "ABCO") and the operator is listed publicly in the FAA's Flight Standards Service Information Management System (SAS) as well as the older Air Carrier and Air Agency Certifications database.

Reputable marketplaces — SkyAccess included — display the Part 135 certificate number on each operator's profile and only list flights operated by certificated air carriers. If a quote can't name the Part 135 certificate holder, the trip is probably illegal gray charter and you should book elsewhere.

The most common gray-charter pattern: a Part 91 aircraft owner agrees to fly paying passengers on a one-off basis, often through a broker. The broker, the aircraft owner, and the customer all benefit short-term; the FAA penalty (up to ~$32,000 per flight as of 2024) and insurance-voiding risk all sit on the operator and the passenger.

Third-party safety ratings (ARGUS, Wyvern, IS-BAO) are voluntary audits above the FAA Part 135 minimum. ARGUS publishes its rated operators publicly with the tier (Gold, Gold Plus, Platinum); Wyvern publishes Registered and Wingman operators; IS-BAO publishes registered operators by Stage 1, 2, or 3. Look for at least one of these on any operator you're considering.

NTSB record search. The NTSB Aviation Accident Database is public and searchable. Search by operator name and by aircraft tail number to see whether the operator or any of its aircraft has been involved in an investigated incident. The absence of records is a good signal; the presence of older minor records is less concerning than recent serious ones.

FAA enforcement history. The FAA's Compliance and Enforcement database records civil penalties and certificate actions. Reputable operators rarely have repeated enforcement actions; one or two old administrative actions are common and not necessarily a concern.

Every US-registered aircraft is listed in the FAA's Aircraft Registry by N-number (tail number). The public registry shows the registered owner, the registration status (registered / pending / expired), and the airworthiness category. An aircraft scheduled to fly your trip should be currently registered, with an active airworthiness certificate.

Ask the operator (or check the marketplace listing) for the specific tail number assigned to your flight. Cross-reference the N-number against the FAA registry. If the aircraft's registration is pending or recently expired, ask the operator for the resolution — sometimes registrations lapse for harmless administrative reasons, sometimes not.

Reputable marketplaces surface this data automatically. SkyAccess matches operator aircraft to the FAA registry and shows the registration validity percentage on every operator profile.

Operational control is the FAA-mandated authority over the go/no-go decision on the flight. The Part 135 certificate holder must hold operational control — not the broker, not the customer, not the aircraft owner. Ask the question directly when you book: who has operational control of this flight?

The correct answer is the operator's name and Part 135 certificate. If the answer is the broker, or the aircraft owner, or some kind of "shared" arrangement, the flight is at risk of being deemed an illegal gray charter on the FAA's analysis. This is the single most common test the FAA applies when it investigates suspected illegal charter.

DOT Part 295 (the 2018 charter-broker disclosure rule) requires brokers to disclose in writing that they're acting as an agent — not as the operator — and to name the actual Part 135 carrier. If the broker won't do that in writing, walk away.

No Part 135 certificate number on the operator's profile or in writing on the quote. Walk away.

Broker won't name the operating Part 135 carrier in writing. Walk away.

Aircraft registration is expired or in a status the operator can't explain. Pause until resolved.

Trip price is significantly below the marketplace floor for the route and aircraft (40%+ below other quotes for the same OD pair, aircraft category, and date). Suspicious — could be legitimate (a marginal positioning leg) or could be a gray charter where the operator is undercutting because they have no cost basis to recover. Verify aggressively.

Operator can't provide insurance certificates on request. Reputable operators provide certificates of liability insurance on request as part of corporate-charter due diligence.