How we verify operators — and what we don't check

Verification claims are cheap. This page says exactly what ours covers, where the data comes from, how often we recheck it, and the specific things a badge on this site does not tell you.

The sources

• FAA Part 135 Operators and Aircraft list. The FAA's own published list of certificated air operators, with the regulatory part, the certificate holding district office, the certificate designator, the operator name, and every aircraft on the certificate by make/model, registration and serial number. Updated by the FAA weekly. This is the backbone of every operator record here.
• Aircraft registration data. Used to corroborate airframes and cross-check that a tail number belongs to the entity claiming it.
• Public airport and heliport data. Used to attach bases to real facilities with real identifiers, so "based in Miami" means a specific pad rather than a marketing region.
• Direct confirmation with the operator for contact details, services actually sold, and anything a public dataset cannot answer.

What we check

1. The operator appears in the current FAA certificate list under the legal entity name we publish.
2. The certificate designator we show matches that record.
3. The regulatory part on the certificate covers on-demand commercial operations.
4. The helicopters we list appear on that certificate by registration.
5. The base we show corresponds to a real airport or heliport with an identifier.
6. The contact details reach the operator.

Each operator record carries the date we last confirmed it against the source. We recheck certificate facts at least every six months, and any record older than that stops being publishable until it is re-confirmed — not quietly downgraded, actually withheld.

What we do not check — read this part

This is the section most directories leave out, which is precisely why it is here.

• We do not audit safety. We do not inspect aircraft, review maintenance records, examine training programmes, or assess how an operator makes decisions in marginal weather. A listing here is not a safety endorsement and cannot be read as one.
• We do not verify insurance. Limits, exclusions and whether a policy is current are between you and the operator. Ask for a certificate of insurance naming the relevant parties.
• We do not track enforcement history. Certificate actions, violations and incidents are not reflected in the data we hold. The FAA and NTSB publish in this area and you should look there.
• We do not confirm a specific aircraft is airworthy today. An airframe on a certificate is not a promise it is serviceable, based where you need it, or available on your date.
• We do not audit the operator's own pricing. We negotiate a charter rate with them and quote you an all-in price that includes our fee, so we are not a neutral party on price and will not pretend to be. Ask what our fee is on your quote and we will tell you.
• We do not check financial standing. If you are paying a deposit well in advance, that risk is yours to assess.

What disqualifies a listing

• No current certificate in the FAA source, or a certificate that does not cover on-demand commercial operations.
• Certificate facts we cannot re-confirm within six months.
• A business that does not sell charter to the public. Air ambulance operators are dispatched through emergency systems, not brokered, and listing them as bookable would be simply false.
• Any request from the operator to be removed. We will delist on request without argument.
• Evidence of a misrepresented operating relationship — for example a broker presenting itself as the certificate holder.

Why most operators here have no page of their own

Because the data we hold about them does not yet justify one. Our own rule is that an operator page requires a verified certificate, a base with an identifier, a working contact, at least eight independently sourced facts, and original writing about what that operator actually does. The FAA file supplies four or five of those. The remainder is manual work, and pages go live one at a time as records clear that bar.

The alternative — generating a page per company from the same five columns — would produce hundreds of pages that differ only by a name. That is worse for you, because none of them would tell you anything; and it is worse for us, because search engines correctly treat it as what it is. We would rather have one page that says something true than three hundred that don't.

Tell us when we're wrong

Data drifts. Companies get sold, certificates get surrendered, fleets move. If something here is wrong, tell us: we will correct it, record when we did, and if it was materially misleading we will say so rather than silently editing.

Operators: if you would rather not be listed at all, ask and we will remove you. We would rather have a smaller accurate directory than a complete unwelcome one.