PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE ■ PUBLISHER Gil Wolin gwolin@bizavadvisor.com CRE ATIVE DIRECTOR Raymond F. Ringston rringston@bizavadvisor.com MANAGING EDITOR G.R. Shapiro gshapiro@bizavadvisor.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Michael B. Murphy mmurphy@bizavadvisor.com WASHINGTON EDITOR David Collogan dlcollogan@gmail.com CONTRIBUTORS Thomas Connelly Gama Aviation Signature marketing.us@gamaaviation.com Alan Goldstein, CPA Flight Department Solutions agoldstein@flightdeptsolutions.com David Norton Shackelford, Bowen, McKinley & Norton, LLP dnorton@shackelfordlaw.net Rich Pilock SmartSky Networks rich.pilock@smartskynetworks.com Nel Stubbs Conklin & de Decker nel@conklindd.com BUSINESS MANAGER JoAnn O’Keefe jokeefe@bizavadvisor.com BUSINESS AVIATION MEDIA , INC . PO Box 5512 • Wayland, MA 01778 Tel: (800) 655-8496 • Fax: (508) 499-2172 info@bizavadvisor.com www.bizavadvisor.com Editorial contributions should be addressed to: Business Aviation Advisor, PO Box 5512, Wayland, MA 01778, and must be accompanied by return postage. Publisher assumes no responsibility for safety of artwork, photographs, or manuscripts. Permissions: Material in this publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Tinder is the Night
The chartered aircraft had just begun its final approach on its last flight of the day. The autopilot was engaged; the landing gear showed “three in the green” – panel lights indicating that they were down and locked. The aircraft seemed ready, but the middle-aged captain hadn’t heard his young first officer speak the proper cockpit callouts verifying that these last steps were complete before touchdown. That was curious, as the callouts are Standard Operating Procedure. When the captain turned from the instruments to inquire, he saw the first officer’s head down, focused on his smartphone. “What the @#!% do you think you’re doing?!” “Tinder,” he replied calmly, and continued his efforts to identify and confirm a date for the evening. No, this is not a set up for another aviation disaster flick. This really happened. And it underscores the risks you take when you dip your toe in the illegal (“grey”) charter market. Arranging a hook-up instead of focusing on getting the aircraft and its passengers safely on the ground may be due to a pilot’s overdependence on computers to fly the aircraft – or to very poor judgement. Either way, this pilot took a foolish risk. Chances are, the aircraft owner was not on board this flight, and this wasn’t his regular pilot. That’s because when business aircraft flight and sales activity dropped during the 2008-2010 economic recession, owner flying did too. So did their direct operating costs (fuel, maintenance, etc.). But owners’ fixed operating costs (hangar, flight crew/ technicians, insurance, etc.) did not. As a result, there were an enormous number of underutilized FAR Part 91 privately operated business jets that owners made available for hire. And, thanks to the ever-increasing efficiency of the internet, there now are an enormous number of new and inexperienced online jet charter brokers. Since there still is no government license or certificate required to broker aircraft charters, these “faceless app” brokers set up shop without certification, and without complying with commercial aviation operating regulations. Those regulations are designed to ensure the safety of, and manage the travel risk for, you, your aircraft, and the charterer. So don’t take a chance. When you charter, while you might find a “real deal” on a shady broker site, you could wind up flying with a pilot looking for a similar “deal” on Tinder. Business Aviation Advisor is committed to helping the National Air Transportation Association and other industry groups inform you about the very real safety and tax fraud risks of the grey market. You’ll find the details on how to avoid those risks in our special online report: “Fifteen Shades of Grey Aircraft Charter.” Thanks for reading!
The views and opinions expressed in Business Aviation Advisor are those of the authors and advertisers, and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of Business Aviation Media, Inc. Articles presented in this publication are for general information and educational purposes and do not constitute legal or financial advice. Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Business Aviation Media, Inc., PO Box 5512 • Wayland, MA 01778, USA ©Copyright 2018 by Business Aviation Media, Inc. All rights reserved
Gil Wolin — Publisher gwolin@bizavadvisor.com
Printed in the USA S e p t e m b e r/O c to b e r 2 018 B U S I N E S S AV I AT I O N A DV I S O R 5
