FAA scrutiny of on-demand Part 135 charter operators may increase following a report issued July 13 by the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General (IG). This report is the first of two parts and focused on evaluating “the differences between FAA regulation and oversight for on-demand operators and larger, commercial air carriers.”
The IG audit tried to compare two different types of commercial aircraft operations and concluded that on-demand Part 135 charter operations receive far less FAA oversight and are subject to less stringent regulations than Part 121 airline operations. This audit suggests that if Part 135 on-demand and 121 regulations were similar, some notable accidents might not have occurred. According to National Air Transportation Association president Jim Coyne, “The IG largely conducts an apples-and-oranges comparison. Part 121 is very homogenous…. Part 135 contains every possible mission profile and includes single-engine pistons up to large-cabin jets. Of course the requirements are going to be different.”
More In Charter & Fractional
