Watch as WestJet serves up first-class Holiday Cheer and some very big surprises!
Category: Flight Operations
-
Skymax Begins Air Charter Service in Florida
Skymax Completes Air Charter Certification
Begins Air Taxi Service in FloridaFORT LAUDERDALE, FL | November 17, 2013 – Skymax is pleased to announce the completion of its FAA 135 Air Carrier Certification and the beginning of its business as an air charter service provider.
This certification enables Skymax to offer air service throughout the 48 contiguous United States, expanding Skymax’s operational capabilities to include civilian air charter service in addition to providing local scenic flights.
“We’re thrilled to finalize this certification,” said Valerie Lynn, Skymax’s President, “We’ve been working diligently with Federal Aviation Administration Inspectors to demonstrate our commitment to safety in the charter air services market.”
Skymax operates with an FAA Part 135 operating certificate, which means it can offer air charter service upon demand.
“Our focus has always been on “The View,” and offering visitors and residents with time constraints an unparalleled scenic flight experience, essentially showing them more of Florida than they could see by car,” added Lynn.
“Our Air Carrier certificate gives us the capability of providing air carrier services for our Customers, so they can travel from city to city, on their schedule.
Skymax will collaborate with the Federal Aviation Administration in coming months for approvals to expand its air charter capabilities with additional aircraft in both numbers and types of aircraft it operates.
Skymax offers passenger charter service from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport and cargo charter service from Pompano Beach Air Park.
About Skymax: From introductory flights to air charter flights, Skymax caters to busy people who want reliable, professional air transportation. For more information, please visit skymax.com.
-
135 Certification Update – Skymax Begins Air Charter Service
We are now available for air charter service throughout the 48 contiguous United States!
Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity as we received notice that our Air Carrier Certification was complete. The final requirement was to review and sign the Operations Specifications (“OpSpecs”), which outline in detail what we are and are not authorized to do.
Federal Requirements for Air Charter Service
An FAA air carrier certificate is only part of what is required to offer and conduct an air charter service. Operations Specifications must be signed for and maintained. An “exclusive use” airworthy aircraft must be in the operator’s control. All safety-sensitive staff, including your pilot, must be tested for certain drugs, must have received a negative result and must also subject themselves to random drug and alcohol tests. Proof of insurance, by regulation, must be sent to DOT before DOT will grant economic authority to operate. And all of this must be in place before beginning service as an air charter operator.
Because of the number and type of aircraft we use in our air charter service, we are considered an “Air Taxi” and not a “Commuter” or “Scheduled Airline.”
It has been a journey, applying for this air carrier certificate, but one well worth the time and effort. Announcements have been sent:
Fort Lauderdale-based Skymax announces 135 Air Carrier Certification. Begins air charter service in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
We look forward to serving you safely, professionally and reliably!
Can I get a “WOOT!?”
-
Part 135 Air Charter Certification Update
Getting an Air Charter Certificate in South Florida takes time.
Via email this morning, our Principal Operations Inspector told us our Certification Package is being reviewed by a Frontline Manager at the South Florida Flight Standards District office.
We’re almost there!
As of this writing, it has taken almost three years for our air charter application to get this far at the South Florida Flight Standards District Office (“the FSDO”).
Part 135 Certification Process
Having developed our Part 135 Air Charter compliance package from scratch, I can tell you it was been a huge learning experience. Organization is key from the start. FAA has a specific structure that they expect applicants to follow. That structure forms the Table of Contents and the Section Dividers for the application binder. Because documents are required at different times throughout the process and because the availability of people fluctuates (think FAA personnel and your own availability), a Schedule of Events is necessary. If you’ve never been through this process, this is where it gets hairy…
-
On the Shutdown of the Federal Government and its Effect on Aviation
I am not implying or suggesting that the furloughed Aviation Safety Inspectors are not necessary or that what has happened to them has not been unfair – it has.
But, we should acknowledge as well that most people with an airplane or access to one do not need an ever-present enforcement team to comply with regulations. We are safe and we are complying with Federal Aviation Regulations.
Do You Stop at Stop Signs?
Think about it… there is not a police officer at every stop sign, yet most of us still stop.
Why? We do so because we consent to be governed… because we believe that our community, as a whole, is served best with some structure and procedures each of us agrees to follow.
Bad eggs will be bad eggs with or without a functioning enforcement team.
The problem right now is not that pilots and certificate holders will run amok.
The problem is that those who never consented to be governed in the first place currently have no oversight. They are just continuing to do what they were doing before – now without any risk of being caught.
The role of FAA, though, is larger than “enforcement” and as such, we should be careful so as not to create the idea that aviation operators are running amok. We are not.
We should be mindful of the politics of the shutdown and the divisiveness it has the potential to create. When we look beyond the politics of the shutdown, we see the bigger problem in aviation.
The bigger problem created by the government shutdown, one that encompasses more people in aviation than just the bad eggs and the furloughed employees – and one that has a greater bearing on safety than a few bad eggs in our ecosystem – is the current vacuum in the flow of information and money created by the furlough.
- Guidance is not being sought or issued.
- Questions are not being fielded or answered.
- Safety seminars are on hold.
- Requests for Pilot Records are not being filled.
- Aircraft are not being registered.
- New 135 operators are not being certificated.
- Competent and qualified pilots cannot be put to work at a new job.
- People who deserve to be paid are not being paid.
We all know how to fly without an FAA representative sitting next to us. And I think, I hope, each furloughed FAA employee expects this too.
But the working community that is aviation, the community comprised of pilots, aviation safety inspectors, operators, the Registry branch in Oklahoma, and more – the entire ecosystem – has ground to a halt because of this shutdown.
The industry itself, and the economy built around this industry, is stymied.
I have to wonder how we as a nation have determined that safety in aviation is critical, yet we allow that part of our government responsible for safety to be shut down at every level.