When the plane breaks

A maintenance write-up grounds an aircraft. It does not have to ground your trip. When it happens, the job we take on is to arrange a replacement: another aircraft from the same operator, or one sourced through our operator network and flown by a licensed Part 135 carrier. It is also what most clients want to hear at 6 am on the ramp with the engine cowling open.

What follows is how a recovery works, in the order it happens, and where the limits are. The limits matter as much as the offer. A broker can arrange another aircraft. A broker cannot, and should never try to, decide that the first aircraft is fine to fly.

The short version

• One aircraft is grounded; the trip need not be. There are three ways to get you airborne: a different aircraft from the same operator, a different operator flying under the first one’s authority, or a different operator hired directly.
• The nearest crewed aircraft decides the timeline. Distance divided by speed is the easy part. Whether a crew is rested and available is the hard part.
• Safety calls belong to the pilot in command. Under 14 CFR 91.3, the pilot in command is “the final authority as to the operation of that aircraft”. We do not argue with that, and we do not look for a pilot who will say yes.
• The carrier is named before you commit. Part 295 requires a broker to disclose the operating carrier’s corporate name before a contract for a specific flight, and again if it changes.
• Money follows the flight. Part 295.26 requires prompt refunds for transportation that cannot be performed, and we ask for a replacement’s price before you accept it.

What “broken” means

Not every write-up grounds an aircraft, and the difference decides how bad your morning is.

An aircraft can fly with some inoperative equipment, but only under a Minimum Equipment List. 14 CFR 135.179 allows a Part 135 aircraft to take off with inoperative instruments or equipment only if an approved MEL exists for that aircraft and the operator’s operations specifications authorise its use. Which items are covered depends on that aircraft’s own approved list, and the pilot decides whether to accept one.

So there are three outcomes, and you will hear them described in these words:

1. Deferred. The item is covered by the MEL, the aircraft is legal and the pilot accepts it. The trip goes on, perhaps with a note about the cabin.
2. Fixed. A mechanic can repair it on the ramp. Minutes or hours.
3. AOG, “aircraft on ground”. It cannot fly until parts or a mechanic arrive. Treat it as out for the day.

Case 1 is not a decision for us, and it is not a decision for you either. The operator’s maintenance control and the pilot make it. The pilot can still say no to a deferral they are legally allowed to take. That is their right and, we think, a good reason to choose operators whose pilots use it.

Option one: another aircraft from the same operator

This is the fastest recovery and the one most clients never notice. The operator has several aircraft on its certificate, one of them is available, and it is crewed or can be crewed quickly.

• Same certificate, same contract. Nothing about who is responsible for the flight changes, and the operator’s operational control carries over.
• The aircraft must be on the operator’s operations specifications. A tail number that is not listed cannot be used for charter by that operator, however similar it looks.
• The category may change. A midsize jet replaced by a light jet is a downgrade, with fewer seats and less baggage space and a lower price. A larger replacement is usually an upgrade the client does not pay for, though the operator may ask. Either way it should be agreed before you board, not discovered at the door.

If the operator has a spare aircraft and a crew to fly it, this is the fastest route. If it does not, the search moves on.

Option two: another carrier flying for your operator

A Part 135 carrier is allowed to ask another Part 135 carrier to conduct a flight on its behalf, but the rule is narrow. 14 CFR 119.53(e) says the substituting carrier must hold the applicable economic authority and be authorised under its operations specifications to conduct the same kind of operation, and “must conduct that operation in accordance with the same operations authority held by the certificate holder arranging for the substitute operation”.

In plain words: the second carrier is not a free-for-all substitute. It must be a carrier that the FAA already authorises for that kind of flying, and it flies under the first carrier’s operating authority. This is a real arrangement and it is common, but it is the operator’s call, not ours, and the client must be told who is actually flying.

Option three: we source a different carrier

When the first operator has no aircraft and does not arrange a substitute, the search widens to other carriers. This is where a broker’s network matters.

Where the aircraft come from. The search runs in three places at once:

• our operator network: the carriers we already work with, many of whom we have arranged flights with before;
• aircraft already positioned nearby: an aircraft that dropped a client at an airport 80 miles away an hour ago is the best candidate in the country;
• the commercial marketplaces that publish live availability, and we confirm each carrier’s certificate and rating listing before an aircraft goes on the shortlist (see how the safety ratings differ).

What changes legally. A different carrier is a different contract. Before you commit to it, 14 CFR 295.24 requires the broker to disclose the corporate name of the direct air carrier that will be in operational control, the capacity the broker is acting in, and whether the broker holds liability insurance covering the charterer and its limits. You are not asked to take the name on trust: it is a required disclosure, and it must be given again if the carrier changes.

What happens to the first trip. The part that cannot be flown is a refund matter. Part 295.26 requires prompt refunds when transportation cannot be performed: cash and cheque refunds within 20 days of a complete request, and card refunds under the card rules.

What sets the timeline

Three things set it, and none of them is the broker’s phone speed.

Distance. The aircraft has to reach you. A rough guide: flight time is the distance divided by about 400 knots for a light or midsize jet, plus about 20 minutes for taxi, climb and descent.

Aircraft is this far away	Typical positioning flight (jet)
50 nautical miles	about 30 minutes
150 nautical miles	about 45 minutes
300 nautical miles	about 1 hour 5 minutes
600 nautical miles	about 1 hour 50 minutes

Those are flying times only. They start when a crew and an aircraft are ready, not when you are told about the problem.

Crew limits. A Part 135 crew cannot fly without limit. Under 14 CFR 135.267, a two-pilot crew’s flight time in any 24 consecutive hours is limited to 10 hours, and an assignment inside a regularly assigned duty period of no more than 14 hours needs at least 10 consecutive hours of rest before and after. A crew that has already flown that morning may simply have run out of day, however close the aircraft is. That is why “the aircraft is 40 minutes away” does not always mean “40 minutes”.

The airport. Curfews, noise limits, slot or ramp restrictions and customs hours all apply to the replacement as they applied to the first aircraft. A replacement that cannot legally operate into the destination at that hour is not a replacement. (Teterboro, for one, limits night departures by the decibel.)

Put those together and the honest timeline is a range: an hour or so when a spare aircraft and crew are on the same airfield, a few hours when the nearest crewed jet is a short flight away, and most of a day when neither is true. We will tell you which of these you are in once the search has an answer, not before.

Who pays

This is the clause that decides the whole experience, so it is worth reading before the trip, not after.

• When the aircraft cannot fly because of maintenance, the cost of the failure ought to sit with the party that controls the maintenance: the operator. That would mean a replacement at the original price, a refund of the unflown part, or both. That is what to look for in a charter contract, but it is a contract term, not a law, and contracts differ.
• When the replacement is bigger or costs more, the contract should say whether the client is asked to pay the difference and whether it is agreed in advance.
• When the replacement is smaller, the price should come down, and the client should be able to say no.
• When there is no replacement, the unflown portion is refunded under Part 295.26, Ask the broker how its own fee is treated in that case before you pay.

What a charter contract should say

Whoever you charter through, find these in the agreement before you sign:

1. The carrier’s name, and a statement that it holds operational control of the aircraft.
2. A substitution clause: how a replacement is chosen, that it must be on the same carrier’s operations specifications or another properly licensed carrier’s, and that you will be told the name before you board.
3. A like-for-like standard, or a stated price adjustment when it is not like-for-like.
4. The pilot’s authority: that the pilot in command can decline the flight and that a safety decision is not a breach.
5. A refund term: for the portion of the trip not flown, with the number of days.
6. Insurance disclosure: who holds liability insurance, covering whom, to what limit. Part 295.24 makes the broker’s disclosure mandatory.
7. Delay and cancellation terms: what happens if the replacement is hours late, and whether you can walk away.

If a contract is silent on any of these, that is a question for the broker, in writing, before the trip; the payment and cancellation clauses, with the rule behind each, are in private jet cancellation and deposits.

What we do and what we do not do

We arrange the replacement; we do not fly it. We are an air charter broker: we are not a direct air carrier and we have no operational control of any aircraft. Licensed Part 135 carriers fly your trip, and the carrier keeps the safety decisions.

In practice:

• We start the search when the operator confirms the problem, not when the repair estimate arrives, so the options are known sooner. If the aircraft returns to service first, the search stops.
• We ask the operator three things: whether it has another aircraft, whether it can arrange a substitute carrier, and how long the first aircraft is out. Those answers decide the route.
• We tell you what we know, in order: what is wrong in plain words, what the options are, what each costs, and how long each is likely to take.
• We do not lean on a pilot. If the pilot in command says no, the answer is no and we move to the next aircraft. Anyone who treats a pilot’s refusal as an obstacle is working for the wrong side.

What you can do

• Say how flexible you are. A departure from the airport 25 minutes away may put a spare aircraft in reach.
• Send the passenger manifest early. A replacement carrier cannot board anyone it has not been given names for, and international trips need dates of birth and passport numbers well before departure.
• Stay reachable from the moment you are told. The best offer often lasts a few minutes.
• Decide your limit in advance: how much later is too late, and whether you would take a smaller aircraft.

If you would like to see how a particular trip would be protected, call +1 (862) 485-3510 or request a quote and ask for the substitution and refund terms with the price. They are part of the answer, and they are easier to compare before the engine cowling is open.

Related: how to charter a private jet, step by step, is flying private safer than commercial? and, for delays caused by weather rather than a fault, do private jets fly in bad weather?

Sources

• 14 CFR 91.3, Responsibility and authority of the pilot in command (eCFR, Title 14)
• 14 CFR 119.53, Wet leasing of aircraft and other arrangements for transportation by air (eCFR, Title 14)
• 14 CFR 135.179, Inoperable instruments and equipment (eCFR, Title 14)
• 14 CFR 135.267, Flight time limitations and rest requirements: unscheduled one- and two-pilot crews (eCFR, Title 14)
• 14 CFR Part 295, Air charter brokers, including the disclosure and refund rules at 295.24 and 295.26 (eCFR, Title 14)
• Port Authority of NY & NJ: Teterboro Flight Crew Handbook