Who actually flies you.

An operator holds an FAA Part 135 air carrier certificate. It employs the crew, maintains the aircraft, and carries the operational and legal responsibility for your flight.

A broker arranges that flight with an operator. It does not own, operate or control aircraft. Most of the charter market runs through brokers, and there is nothing wrong with that — a broker with real operator relationships gets you better availability and better pricing than calling operators one at a time. What matters is that you know which one you are dealing with.

What the rule requires

US air charter brokers operate under 14 CFR Part 295. Among other things it requires a broker to disclose that it is acting as a broker rather than a direct air carrier, and to identify the operator that will perform the flight. A site that never tells you which one it is has skipped step one.

Questions that sort it out fast

• "Do you hold the Part 135 certificate for this aircraft?" One question, one clear answer.
• "Which operator is flying it, and what is the tail number?" You are entitled to know before you commit.
• "How are you compensated?" A flat fee, a margin, a commission — any answer is fine; a non-answer is not.
• "What is your safety vetting?" ARGUS, Wyvern and IS-BAO are the recognised third-party ratings. Ask what standard is applied and whether it is checked per trip.
• "What happens if the aircraft goes technical the morning of?" The answer reveals the depth of the operator relationships.

Where a broker genuinely helps

• Access. No single operator has the right aircraft in the right place on every date.
• Comparison. Operators quote their own metal. A broker can say the midsize is the wrong aircraft for your trip.
• Repositioning arbitrage. Empty legs and off-peak positioning only work if you can see across several fleets.
• Recovery. When an aircraft goes technical, the value of the broker is how quickly a different one appears.

Where AviationHS stands

AviationHS is an air charter broker as defined in 14 CFR Part 295. It does not own, operate or control aircraft. Flights are performed by FAA Part 135 certificate holders under direct contract. That disclosure is in the footer of every page, in every API response, and in every MCP tool description — including the ones an assistant reads before relaying a price to you.