Federal Aviation Administration Part 135 Archives

COVID-19 raises illegal charter concerns a year after Sala’s deadly plane crash

July 27, 2020July 27, 2020by Doug Gollan

As private jet travel attracts price-sensitive newcomers, illegal charters with unqualified pilots and aircraft are creating new dangers

“We’ve just got done with a case..The PIC (Pilot-in-Charge) was not typed in the aircraft and the SIC (Second Officer-in-Charge) was a student pilot with less than 50 hours. That’s one of the most unsafe things I’ve seen. This stuff goes on. It happens.”

– FAA Inspector

Back in 2016, I was visiting the headquarters of Jet Linx Aviation in Omaha, Nebraska. Walking with its CEO Jamie Walker between a series of meetings, he suggested I write about illegal charters. He said it was a subject he didn’t think was getting enough attention.

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What happens to the Federal Excise Tax you prepaid for your Jet Card before the CARES Act?

April 5, 2020April 7, 2020by Doug Gollan

The COVID-19 Coronavirus assistance legislation eliminates the 7.5% FET between March 28, 2020, and year’s end

What are the best strategies for Jet Card flying during the FET holiday

Updated April 6, 2020 @7:16pm

One point of the 880-page CARES Act is a waiver of the 7.5% Federal Excise Tax (FET). The holiday lasts between March 28 and December 31, 2020. It’s normally levied for domestic Part 135 flights, which includes domestic jet card trips. It was also applied to U.S. flights that start or end within 200 miles of the southern and northern borders.

You might naturally assume that you won’t pay FET for flights during the rest of the year. You would be wrong. It depends on your program. So, how does this impact you?

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Should you charter a private jet online?

January 1, 2020January 2, 2020by Doug Gollan

After years of claims about Uber for private jets instant booking technology, it’s finally arriving. Should you book a private jet online?

After years of claims about Uber for private jets instant booking technology, it’s finally arriving. But should you use it?

Many of the broker websites and apps promising online bookings were nothing more than electronic request forms.

But that’s changing, and increasingly, you may find yourself able to rent a private jet or turboprop digitally from a broker or platform, and without much human oversight, or at least human oversight looking after your interests.

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You might be running an illegal charter (and not know it)

December 31, 2019December 31, 2019by Doug Gollan

A $100 million lawsuit your insurance won’t cover could be one accident away

If you are successful enough to own your own private jet, it probably took long hours and lots of hard work.

Chances are, you bought your private jet – or turboprop – because it was a business tool, allowing you to go to multiple locations and out of the way places more efficiently.

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