Glossary

Aethereal: [i-theer-ee-uhl] – heavenly or celestial; exquisite; extremely delicate, light and airy; refined.

Air Traffic Control: A service to pilots that promotes the safe, orderly and expeditious flow of air traffic. In the United States Air Traffic Control is operated by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA)

Airway Distance: The actual (as opposed to straight line) distance flown by the aircraft between two points, after deviations required by air traffic control and navigation along published routes. The difference between this and straight line distance will vary throughout the country. Average figures would be between 5-9%.

ARG/US: A private company that provides independent reports for luxury business air and jet charter operators.

ARO: Airport Reservation Office. Staffed by the FAA, this entity allocates landing and takeoff reservations for unscheduled aircraft in and out of the following airports: JFK, LGA, EWR, DCA, ORD (see airport identifier listings for codes). Since these allocations are scarce and granted 48 hours in advance on a “first-come first served” basis, travel to these five airports may be difficult by business jet charters.

Block Rates: A lower “contract rate” for scheduling significant amounts of air charter (applies to business jet charters and private jet rental) time in advance on a prearranged agreement.

Block Speed: The average speed over a specific distance “block-to-block”, or door-to-door with respect to the airport gate.

Certificate: FAA-issued license (in this context sometimes referred to as ticket, Part 135 license, etc.) to carry passengers for hire.

Certificate of Insurance:This certificate is issued as a matter of information by the producer, reflecting the type of coverage and limits of liability of the named insured.

Charter Broker: A company or individual that buys charter at wholesale and resells it at retail. The broker is responsible for payment to the charter provider, for assessing end-user taxes and fees, and for ensuring their customer’s safety and satisfaction. A charter operator may act as a broker to provide supplemental lift to their customer.

Charter Operator: A company or individual that holds aircraft charter certificates and provides charter services to retail and wholesale customers.

Commuter Operator: A regional, scheduled airline. In this book limited to that operator with adequate fleet capacity as to be available of charter. Not all commuter airlines charter, because of the limitations of aircraft and crew availability.

Corporate Operator: A company flight department which has earned a “Part 135” certificate to carry passengers for compensation.

Cruise Speed: Cruise speed is the normal speed attained at altitude once the aircraft is no longer climbing and is en route.

D-085: Page 85, section D, of an operator’s federally mandated Operations Manual. This certified page lists all aircraft that the operator may legally offer for charter

Deadhead/Ferrying/Positioning: A flight to position an aircraft to someplace other than its home base.

Duty Time: That portion of the day when a crew member is on duty in any capacity (not just in the air). This can be a constraint on long day-trips, as there are FAA-imposed limits on the amount of time allowed on duty. Many charter operators have stricter rules, so it pays to inquire before planning a trip too tight to the limit.

Empty Leg (i.e. dead leg, one way leg): When a one way air charter flight is booked, many times, the aircraft has to return to it’s original airport. In a case like this, the plane will be flying empty. This is known as an empty leg flight. Empty leg flights for private jet charter are usually offered at discounted price to the charter customer.

Executive Jetliner: Executive jetliners offer exceptional space for up to 24 passengers and long-range (inter-continental) performance in maximum comfort.

FBO: Fixed base operator, which represents a large majority of the air charter industry. By definition at a permanent location, this is a vendor of services, maintenance, fuel, flight instruction, and aircraft sales, in addition to charter.

Ferrying/Positioning/Deadhead: A flight to position an aircraft to someplace other than its home base.

Ferrying/Positioning Time: Time estimated for an aircraft to travel a ferry/position/deadhead leg.

Fleet Manager: A commercial aviation entity developed to subcontract the maintenance and operation of corporate aircraft, which are often chartered out to the general public.

Flight Time: That portion of the trip actually spent in the air. For billing purposes this definition is generally strict and only applies from moment of liftoff to moment of touchdown.

Fractional Aircraft Ownership: Fractional aircraft ownership was created to attract business jet charter clients who are not interested in paying for the expenses of owning an entire aircraft, but would like some ownership interest, control and access to a private business aircraft at reduced hourly rates. Fractional owners pay an acquisition fee (typically 1/16 of the value of the aircraft), a monthly management fee, plus an hourly rate typically equal to the direct operating costs of the aircraft.

GADO: General Aviation District Office of the FAA is the most local branch of the FAA, also the entity most likely to know the specific history of a charter operator.

General Aviation: That portion of aviation other than military or commercial scheduled operations. Commercial unscheduled operations, corporate flight operations, and private aviation are the most conspicuous members of this group. Most major metropolitan airports tend to have a separate “general aviation” terminal, where a chartered flight is likely to depart or arrive.

Great Circle Distance: The shortest distance between two points on a globe.

Ground Handler: See “FBO”

Heavy Jet: Is an aircraft with a minimum takeoff weight of 255,000 lbs.

IATA-code: International Air Transport Association (IATA), a 3-letter identifier for the relevant airport.

ICAO-code: International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) code, a 4-letter airport location indicator.

IFR: “Instrument Flight Rules”, flight in instrument meteorology conditions, (“flight in the clouds”).

ILS: Instrument Landing System- low level approach equipment at certain airports. Airports with ILS systems are indicated in bold face type in the airport listings. Though instrument approaches and departures can be made in airports without an ILS, its presence is a material benefit to the travel planner because an instrument landing system improves trip reliability as closely as possible to the level of scheduled airlines, which generally fly from airports with these facilities.

Independent Operator: A charter operator that does not meet the definition of FBO or commuter, but may not be involved in contract management of aircraft. The larger independent operators, however, are very close to the fleet manager in business approach.

Large Cabin Jet: Large jet category takes a significant step up in both size and performance. Cabin size accommodates up to twice as many passengers and has about double the effective range as midsized jets.

Layover: A night spent in the middle of the trip in a city other than home base for the aircraft and crew.

Leg: Describes one direction of travel between two points. Commonly used in referring to a planned itinerary, it may not indicate all landings such as fuel stops.

Lift: Any aircraft engaged for transport.

Light Jet: Aircraft of 41,000 lbs. or less certified takeoff weight

Medevac: Medical evacuation (usually emergency), ambulance flight service of many helicopter and jet charter companies.

Mid-Sized Jet: A mid-sized aircraft is an aircraft that is certified to takeoff within the range of 41,000 lbs. to 255,000 lbs. Midsized aircraft expand your options in non-stop ranges, number of passengers, performance and cabin amenities.

net/net: The quote format that applies wholesale rates and does not include taxes or other end-user assed fees. Also known as a wholesale quote.

Part 91: The set of federal regulations that govern private aircraft use.

Part 135: The set of federal regulations that govern the commercial hire of jets.

Positioning time: Time estimated for an aircraft to travel to the trip departure position.

Positioning/Deadhead/Ferrying: A flight to position an aircraft to someplace other than its home base.

Propjet( “turbo prop”): A propeller driven airplane, in which the engine is a jet turbine rather than piston driven.

Ramp: The apron or open “tarmac” in front of an FBO or terminal facility. This space is busy, used for deplanement, parking of aircraft, etc. Some facilities will permit automobiles to drive to the aircraft on the ramp, a feature of real benefit to the traveler with heavy or bulky luggage.

Repositioning Time: Time estimated for an aircraft to return to its based position after completion of a passenger segment.

Retail Customer: Also known as the “end user”. This customer purchases charter for their own use and is assessed Federal Excise Tax (FET) and segment fees as applicable. Unless they have made special arrangements with a particular operator, they are usually quoted the market rate.

Retail quote: Quote provided to retail customer including taxes and end-user assessed fees.

Segment: Describes the unit of flight between take-off and landing. Sometimes used interchangeably with the term leg.

Small Cabin Jet: Used most often for shorter ranged flights, but offer jet performance flying faster and farther than non-jet aircraft.

Stage Length: Distance of itinerary non-stop leg.

Super Midsized Cabin Jet: Although accommodating the same number of passengers as mid-sized jets, the super mid-sized category affords larger cabin and luggage space, plus an extended range.

Tarmac: See “Ramp”

Taxi Time: That portion of the trip spent rolling between the gate, terminal, or ramp and runway.

Turboprop/Propjet: A propeller driven airplane, in which the engine is a jet turbine rather than piston driven. Turbo-prop aircraft are typically used for short to mid-range flights. They offer the performance of small jets with the cost efficiencies of piston aircraft.

VFR: “Visual Flight Rules” (flight out of clouds).

Waiting Time: That time that the chartered aircraft and crew must wait on the ground during any portion of the trip.

Wholesale Buyer: Charter broker or charter operator that you allow to represent your aircraft to their customers.

Wholesale Quote: Quote provided to a wholesale buyer for the purpose of resale. Applies wholesale rates and does not include taxes or end-user assessed fees. Also known as a net/net quote.

Wholesale Rates: Discounted hourly rates offered to wholesale buyers for purpose of resale. Industry average is a 5% discount but the rate varies according to agreements between individual charter operators and charter brokers.

Wyvern: A private company that provides independent reports for private and business jet charter operators.