Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

The FAA is thinking about revising its definitions of on-demand operation, supplemental operation, and scheduled operation as it jumps into the roiling debate surrounding the use of Department of Transportation (DOT) Part 380 public charter economic authority. Releasing a draft notice of intent (NOI) yesterday, the FAA said it is planning a rulemaking to address “the exception from FAA’s domestic, flag, and supplemental operations regulations for public charter operators.” Such a rulemaking, the agency added, would move some operators under Part 135 to Part 121.
Part 380 has been used by operators such as JSX, large charters, essential air service providers, and companies employing other on-demand per-seat models for the past 45 years. However, an application filed a year ago by SkyWest Charter for DOT Part 380 authority has touched off a controversy pitting pilots, some airlines, and certain communities against other operators, the business and general aviation sector, and other communities. While SkyWest filed the application, Part 380 operator JSX has become a prime target for those opposing the use of 380.
The DOT has yet to rule on the application, but the FAA has stepped into the issue with the NOI.
Operations under Part 380 may be conducted under Part 135 safety regulations as long as they involve 30 or fewer passenger seats, the FAA said. However, it is concerned that “the size, scope, frequency, and complexity of charter operations conducted as ‘on-demand’ operations under the Part 135 operating rules has grown significantly over the past 10 years,” and added, “While the FAA has adjusted its oversight of these increased operations, the FAA is considering whether a regulatory change may be appropriate to ensure the management of the level of safety necessary for those operations.”
The FAA’s reasoning falls in line with arguments made by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and other air carriers that have called Part 380 a “loophole” and have sought to halt its use by certain carriers. ALPA praised the NOI yesterday, calling it a “significant step in the right direction” and saying the agency has acted to uphold the highest standards of aviation safety and security.
ALPA president Jason Ambrosi added: “Some airlines use the public charter loophole to cut costs by skirting lifesaving safety rules, but if they run similar operations as commercial scheduled airlines, then they are not operating as charter, and that’s an issue.”
However, business and general aviation groups and others have pushed back, expressing a concern that upending Part 380 could end service to small, rural communities where Part 121 operators have pulled out or don’t see a business case for serving.
They have argued that the SkyWest Charter application “has been misused by economic competitors that, with no evidence of safety and security concerns, seek to prevent Part 135 operators from conducting public charter [Part 380] flights. Their unsubstantiated claims do a disservice to this well-established regulatory framework and the safe, secure transportation services its operators provide to the traveling public.”

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

FAA Eyeing Changes to Regulations Regarding Public Charter Operations

FAA action could push ops into Part 121

A move by the FAA to potentially change certain definitions for operators with Part 380 authority would push some of them out of Part 135 and into Part 121, the agency said.

FAA Eyeing Changes to Regs Regarding Public Charters

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Charles Alcock

Kaleyesus Bekele

News and issues concerning the aviation charter and fractional-ownership industries and markets, including company announcements, regulations, new developments and labor issues.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Industry group presses for regulatory progress and continuity across the continent 

African Bizav Strives for Greater Market Opportunity

Amy Wilder

News about simulators and training procedures, as well as workforce.

News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Rule would not apply to insulin-treated diabetes

FAA Proposes Easing Medical Approvals for Diabetic Pilots

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

More In Regulations and Government

African Bizav Strives for Greater Market Opportunity

Industry group presses for regulatory progress and continuity across the continent

FAA Proposes Easing Medical Approvals for Diabetic Pilots

Rule would not apply to insulin-treated diabetes

Congress OKs Stopgap Government Funding Measure

Move averts potential shutdown

Longtime Bizav Attorney Gary Garofalo Flies West

His career spanned more than five and a half decades

New Treasury Rule Limits LLC Information Reporting

The revision relaxes some provisions of the Corporate Transparency Act

Nancy Kassebaum, Architect of GA Product Liability Reform, Dies

Kassebaum pushed through the General Aviation Revitalization Act

Nav Canada Increases ATC Service Charges

Increased fees are to recover pandemic shortfall

FAA InFO Outlines CVR Upgrade Deadlines

Larger new bizav aircraft face 2027 deadline, while small new turbine bizav aircraft have 2029 deadline

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN