How We Approach Safety on Houston Charter Flights
Every Houston charter flight we arrange starts with the same question: who is operating this aircraft, and what do we know about them. That question gets answered before we present a single option to you.
We are a charter broker. We arrange flights with certified operators, and those operators hold operational control of the aircraft at all times. What we control is which operators we are willing to put in front of you, and that is where our work goes.
What Our Operator Due Diligence Covers
Before an operator appears on your quote, we conduct an internal review that covers four things:
- We confirm the operator holds a current air carrier certificate for the flight being arranged.
- We review the operator’s safety and incident history.
- We confirm the pilots assigned are experienced, qualified, and current on the specific aircraft type you will be flying in.
- Where the operator participates in third-party auditing, we reference those audit results as part of the review.
Maintenance responsibility sits with the certified operator, who is accountable to the FAA for it. Our due diligence covers certification, safety history, pilot currency, and third-party audits.
Which Rules Your Flight Operates Under
We work with FAR Part 135 charter operators for traditional private aircraft, and FAR Part 121 operators for airliner-size and regional jet group trips. Either way, the operator goes through our internal due diligence before we present any options.
Part 135 is the FAA’s set of rules for on-demand, for-hire charter. It carries stricter operating, crew, and insurance requirements than FAR Part 91, the rules for private, non-commercial flying that cannot be sold as charter.
When your total passenger count outgrows a heavy jet and the group consists of more than nineteen passengers, the aircraft required would fall into regional airliner, or airliner-size. These trips would no longer fall under the FAR Part 135 standards but possibly operate under FAR Part 121 or foreign equivalent standards. Part 121 and equivalent generally carry stricter crew and operating requirements than FAR Part 91 and FAR Part 135.
On international legs, operators must meet the equivalent safety standards of the country of operation.
Third-Party Safety Reports
Two independent auditors set the recognized benchmarks in charter safety: ARGUS and Wyvern. Both send auditors to review an operator’s records, procedures, and training, then publish a rating. ARGUS grades operators as ARGUS Gold, ARGUS Platinum, or ARGUS Platinum Elite. Wyvern maintains the Wyvern Wingman and Wyvern PASS standards. Where the operator on your trip participates in either program, we reference those results during our review.
Fewer than 60 brokers worldwide hold Premium Wyvern Broker Member status, and Air Charter Advisors is one of them. Broker vetting parameters and the specifics of what does and does not qualify for these additional steps are available on request before you book.
Gulf Coast Weather and Who Makes the Call
Houston sits just above sea level on the Texas Gulf Coast, and the weather here shapes more trips than it does in most markets. Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30, with the busiest stretch from mid-August into early October. Through July and August, sea-breeze thunderstorms build over the metro in the afternoon and move departure times. From late fall into early spring, morning fog is a routine part of planning, and it settles hardest on the bayfront and Galveston fields.
The aircraft operator and the Pilot in Command hold the final decision on whether a flight departs and where it lands. That authority is not ours, and we will not represent it as ours.
What we do is watch the forecast ahead of your trip and keep you informed. Depending on conditions, we may recommend expediting departure, delaying, or using an alternate airport, subject to scheduling and aircraft availability. If any changes are required due to weather and passenger safety, you can expect your advisor to reach out as soon as we are aware.
One Houston detail worth planning around: heavy rain closes roads here more often than it closes runways. If bayou flooding is affecting the route to your departure airport, we will tell you, and we may recommend leaving earlier for the airport than you otherwise would.
Flight Crew
The operators we work with assign crews who meet or exceed the FAA requirements for the flight being arranged. Beyond that baseline, we confirm the pilots have meaningful time on the specific type of aircraft you will be flying. FAR Part 135 sets minimum crew requirements by aircraft type. Many aircraft we book operate with two pilots; some aircraft types within the range we work with are certified for single-pilot operations under Part 135. We confirm in all cases that assigned pilots have experience and currency on the specific aircraft being flown.
Questions About Any of This
If you want to know exactly what we reviewed on a given operator, ask your advisor and we will walk you through it. For more on how we work, see our about page, our answers to frequently asked questions, or the airports we use around Houston.
Call 1-888-987-5387 or contact us to talk through a trip.