Private Jet Card Comparisons - Know Before You Buy
Compare over 250 private jet card membership programs by 65 variables in 1 place
Chicago-based Part 135 charter operator Priester Aviation has renewed its IS-BAO Stage 3, ARGUS Platinum, and Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) certifications.
A letter sent today by BACA, The Air Charter Association (of Europe), to its members is highlighting safety concerns in the sometimes murky world of private jet charter, which includes piston and turboprop aircraft in addition to jets.
This comes days after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said both pilots in the May 15, 2017 crash of a Learjet 35A during its approach to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey failed to follow company standard operating procedures. Both pilots died and there were no passengers onboard.
When one looks at the jet card market, there are clearly a lot of providers and lots of concepts percolating. Since many are new and they are privately held companies, it’s difficult to tell how much traction they are getting. At the same time, there is a core of established players, and that includes Sentient Jet, which claims to have invented the jet card circa 1999. It started when an entrepreneur jet owner was frustrated his management company wasn’t generating enough charter hours. Last week, Private Jet Card Comparisons spent a day at Sentient’s new headquarters in Braintree, Massachusetts, just outside Boston to take an intense look at the company. It is part of Kenn Ricci’s Cleveland-based Directional Aviation empire. Think Flexjet, but as Sentient’s CEO Andrew Collins puts it, “We’re great neighbors, but we don’t live in each other’s houses.”
The International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO), developed by the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) and its member associations, is a recommended code of best practices designed to help private aviation operators and corporate flight departments achieve high levels of safety and professionalism. IS-BAO is an industry standard built for operators, by operators that provides standards based on the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS). Both the FAA and CAA in Canada recognize IS-BAO as meeting the ICAO standard. The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) also recognizes IS-BAO as an industry standard for business aircraft operations.