NTSB data show 2024 charter accident rate at five times airlines’
A Sunday Learjet crash in Palm Beach County, Florida, killed all nine people aboard and focused attention on the safety rules governing private charter operators. Aurora Aviation, which operated the aircraft while doing business as Upper Jets, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The company previously said it was cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board’s crash investigation.
Investigators were trying to learn what led the pilots to fly into a dangerous thunderstorm capable of ice, hail and turbulence. The aircraft was a Learjet 60. NTSB investigators said maintenance records indicate the jet had a cockpit voice recorder at some point, but it was not clear whether the recorder remained on the plane.
The crash prompted comparisons between charter and commercial airline safety. According to NTSB data, private charter operators have consistently had a higher accident rate than major airlines since at least 2015. In 2024, the most recent year for which data were available, the charter accident rate was five times higher than the rate for passenger and cargo airlines; those airlines had no fatal accidents that year.
Chartered flights account for a fraction of U.S. civilian air traffic, yet federal safety requirements for their operators are less stringent than those for airlines. Aviation industry officials said attention to safety varies widely among private charter operators. The Air Charter Safety Foundation, an industry group, said it helps operators go above and beyond minimum safety requirements, while the FAA said it has sought to help smaller charter operators standardize pilot training.
One of the clearest operational differences is dispatch support. The NTSB has recommended that the FAA require certified dispatchers for most private charters, but current air-safety regulations do not require them. FAA rules instead require private charter operators to identify in their manuals the management personnel responsible for flight operations.
“With the airlines, you have joint decision-making between the dispatcher and the crew,” said Greg Feith, a former senior NTSB investigator. With many private charter operators, pilots alone evaluate factors such as weather and decide whether to fly, Feith said.
Pilots must generally complete 1,500 hours of flying to work for airlines, in addition to meeting other requirements. For private charters, pilots generally can obtain a second-in-command license with at least 250 hours of experience, while serving as pilot in command generally requires at least 500 or 1,200 hours, depending on flight conditions. The 1,500-hour airline requirement is controversial among political leaders and aviation industry officials, with opponents saying it ignores quality of experience.
The FAA sets a mandatory retirement age of 65 for airline pilots but imposes no federal age ceiling for private charter pilots, who still must maintain FAA medical certification and pass certain tests. Bruce Landsberg, a pilot and former NTSB vice chairman, said the rules can produce variability in pilot quality and that financial pressures at some charter operators can influence hiring decisions.
“Some of these operators are working on a very thin margin,” Landsberg said. “You can pay a junior first officer a fraction of what you will pay an experienced pilot.”
Government and industry officials also point to safety-management systems as a way to monitor risks before they become larger problems. The systems give staff non-punitive ways to report issues and are required of major airlines and manufacturers such as Boeing. Private charter companies only recently faced an FAA requirement to establish such systems; aside from some of the smallest operators, they must comply by May 28, 2027.
Recording requirements also differ. Private charter operators are not necessarily required to have both cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders like airlines do. Requirements depend on the aircraft’s number of seats and engines.
Client pressure can also shape the decision to fly when weather is dangerous. Airline pilots can point to air-traffic controllers or company dispatchers for keeping them from flying, while private charter pilots can face pressure from clients who pay top dollar and want to reach their destinations. “If you’re a charter operator and you’ve got a jet that you’re not using that often, you don’t want to lose the business,” said Peter Goelz, former NTSB managing director. “You tend to be more responsive to those kinds of demands.”