Safety and Operator Vetting
How we vet charter operators to ensure the safety of your journey.
On top of that oversight, Charter Connect Aviation (CCA) has met each operator in person, and in many cases visited their operations, before any of our clients board its aircraft.
Who regulates private charter
In every country, commercial flying – carrying passengers for payment, whether on an airliner or a business jet – is governed by a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA): for example, the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA), the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) and the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). National rules follow international standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the UN agency for aviation.
To fly paying passengers, a charter company must hold an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) issued by its CAA. Earning one means proving the company has qualified management, trained and licensed pilots, an approved maintenance programme, and procedures for running flights safely.
In South Africa, for example, smaller aircraft carrying up to 19 passengers are operated under what is commonly known as “Part 135” of the Civil Aviation Regulations, and larger airliners under “Part 121”. Most business jets and turboprops used for charter fall under Part 135. The certificate is not permanent: the operator must pass a renewal audit, and the CAA can suspend or revoke it if standards slip.
Aircraft must stay airworthy, maintained to an approved programme by licensed engineers, with every inspection and repair recorded.
Pilots must hold valid licences, type ratings and medical certificates, and complete recurrent training and proficiency checks.
Operations are audited and inspected by the CAA, including surprise ramp inspections.
Why we add our own checks
That is why CCA does not rely on documents alone. Before an operator flies our clients, our team visits its offices and hangars and meets the people responsible for every flight:
Management – the accountable manager and the post-holders for flight operations, maintenance and safety. We want to understand how decisions are made and how safety concerns are raised and acted on.
Pilots – their experience on type, their training, and how crews are scheduled and rested.
Maintenance – the engineers, the hangar, the records, and how defects are tracked and fixed.
What we review
While CCA does not have the legal authority to inspect a charter operator (that is the job of the CAA), we maintain active and open relationships with the operators we utilize and before each booking we confirm the specific aircraft and crew are current.
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Our commitment
We will tell you which operator is flying you and which aircraft you are on. We work only with operators we have visited and would fly with ourselves. And the final call on any flight – weather, technical issues, runway conditions – always rests with the pilot in command. We will never press an operator to fly when its crew says no.