Safety
Our vetting
None of this is exotic. It is the diligence a charter broker should be doing as a matter of course — the difference is that we write down what we found and will show you.
We confirm the operator holds a current air carrier certificate under 14 CFR Part 135, and that the specific aircraft is listed on their operations specifications. An aircraft can be beautiful and still not be legal for charter — this is the check that matters most, and it is the one most often assumed rather than made.
We obtain the certificate of insurance, confirm the liability limits, and record the expiry date so it cannot quietly lapse between your booking and your flight. Certificates are available to you on request for any trip we arrange.
Where the operator holds an ARGUS, WYVERN or IS-BAO standing, we record it and the date it was awarded. These are independent audits, which makes them worth more than any assurance we or the operator could offer you directly.
For demanding fields — Aspen, Jackson Hole, short island strips — we confirm the crew meets the operator's own special-airport qualification requirements before we quote the trip.
Certificates lapse and ratings change. Operator records in our system carry expiry dates, and an operator whose insurance or audit standing has gone stale does not get quoted until it is confirmed current.
What you receive with every quote
Illustration of the record layout — operator details are supplied per trip.
Regulatory basis: Altessair is an air charter broker operating under 14 CFR Part 295 and is not a direct air carrier. Records are checked by the founding team, which includes a licensed private pilot. Read the broker disclosure.
The acronyms
Most sites display these as badges and leave you to guess. Each one measures something specific — and each has a limit worth knowing.
Gold · Gold Plus · Platinum
A US audit of the operator's historical safety data, pilot background checks and, at higher levels, an on-site audit. Platinum additionally requires a functioning Safety Management System and an emergency response plan.
Worth knowing: ARGUS rates the operator, not the individual aircraft or the crew flying your trip.
Registered · Wingman
A standard widely used by corporate flight departments. Wingman requires an on-site audit and continuous reporting, and is often the benchmark large companies insist on before employees may fly charter.
Worth knowing: A WYVERN report is a point-in-time assessment; we record the date of the standing alongside it.
Stage 1 · 2 · 3
An international standard from IBAC, focused on how well a Safety Management System is embedded. Stage 1 confirms the structure exists; Stage 3 confirms safety management is part of how the operator genuinely runs.
Worth knowing: IS-BAO is a management-systems standard rather than a maintenance inspection.
Altessair is an air charter broker and arranger. We are not a direct air carrier and we do not own, operate or crew aircraft.
Every flight is performed by an air carrier certificated by the FAA under Part 135, and that operator holds full operational control — their aircraft, their crew, their maintenance program, and theirs alone is the decision to fly.
We say this on the homepage, in the footer, in the trip agreement and here, because a client who is clear about it can assess their own risk.
Questions
The operator. Altessair is an air charter broker and arranger, not a direct air carrier — the FAA Part 135 certificate holder exercises full operational control of the aircraft, the crew and the decision to fly. Our responsibility is to put you with an operator worth trusting, and to be honest about what we have verified.
No, and any broker who claims a single rating as an absolute filter is oversimplifying. Some excellent operators — particularly smaller turboprop operators serving short fields — hold strong records without a Platinum rating, while a rating alone tells you nothing about the crew on your specific trip. We record what each operator holds and tell you plainly what applies to your flight so the decision is yours, not hidden inside a filter.
Yes. For any trip we arrange we will share the operator's Part 135 certificate number and their certificate of insurance on request. If a broker will not tell you who is operating your flight, that itself is the answer.
The operator makes that call, and we would not want it any other way — nobody should be able to pressure a crew into flying. When it happens we tell you immediately, work to re-source the trip on another aircraft, and refund per the trip agreement if no acceptable option exists.
On any trip we arrange, ask for the operator's certificate number and insurance certificate and we will send them. It is a reasonable question and you should ask it of every broker you deal with.
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