Safety Standards
Luxury is our mission, but safety remains our priority.
The aviation world is constantly learning & improving its standards to make sure passengers can travel safely. Most of the time, customers are not aware of these measures since most of them happen behind the scenes. As an aviation professional, it is our main duty and principal priority to determine a certain level of standards of quality and safety.
BIRDY’s standards are based upon due diligence and international best practice standards with regards to Flight Operations, Ground Operations, Training Standard Operating Procedures, Maintenance & Technical Standard Operating procedures and COVID-19 related standards.
We make sure that each of our partner operators is able to provide proofs of:
✧ Up-to-date training & skills. Pilots must be fully-trained & legally qualified on the specific aircraft type and airports they’re scheduled to take-off from or land at. Indeed, some airports such as Saint-Barths, London City, or Saint-Tropez require that the pilots have a site qualification. Flight attendants must be trained to cater to your needs and ensure your safety at all times;
✧ Up to date certifications, such as ARGUS, WYVERN or other Aviation Safety Auditors;
✧ Compliance with the relevant aviation authorities and applicable laws: Air Operator Certificate, levels of insurance coverage, regulatory oversight from country of origin and specific authorizations required for specific routes;
✧ Compliance with EASA COVID-19 standards such as crew health checks and aircraft cleaning regimes.
✧ Recent and regularly maintained aircraft.
To make sure everything is constantly under control, BIRDY has a dedicated Safety Manager to update our internal procedures and verify that all our partners adhere to the highest safety standards as well as to our operations manual. If you’re still concerned about safety, please get in touch with BIRDY and have all your concerns addressed by the operators in advance of your flight.
Safety is our most important concern. This is why one of our main missions is to audit our partner operators prior to your flight in order to carefully check that each of our clients flies on a private jet that respects all safety rules and regulations in force.
By law, all aircraft operators must comply with rigorous standards of safety & regulations according to the law in force. BIRDY made the choice to exceed these regulations by systematically performing a thorough analysis of the operating company and operated aircraft in order to ensure that they do also meet BIRDY‘s standards, as presented in the “BIRDY Standards” section, before partnering with them.
Several international standards serve as key references in the industry, including ARGUS, WYVERN and IS-BAO certifications. More information is available here: https://birdy.aero/accreditations/
With many years of experience in Private Aviation operations & safety, BIRDY carries out a continuous auditing process before and after partnering with operators; indeed, each and every flight goes through a thorough trip check where we audit the operator, crew and aircraft.
In case of any doubt regarding your upcoming flight, we will be happy to discuss and share more details of this process, or to discuss specific details that pertain to your flight.
Finally, we believe in putting our commitment to safety on display for you. Each operator that flies for Jettly has an Air Operator Certificate, which you can examine on the Jettly platform for our customers to view. For your peace of mind and confidence, we also make available each of the operator’s insurance information. Further, you can find out how much insurance each aircraft carries. This information is something that operators must address by law.
We don’t stop there when it comes to safety. We also offer the following safety protocols to ensure your private jet flight goes off without a hitch – from beginning to end.
✧ Consistent documentation in aircraft. To adhere to global safety standards, each of our operators and their aircraft must carry all certifications and approvals needed. Every operator is regulated, and must comply with the legal regulations applicable to them.
✧ Training record evaluations. Each operator must also comply with specific regulations concerning crew training and proficiency.
✧ Strict crew schedules. To keep operators from becoming overly fatigued, legal regulations are in place to ensure pilots are not scheduled in such a way that safety is compromised.
✧ Consistent flight checks. Operators are required by law to ensure all aspects of a flight are conducted in accordance with government-mandated procedures and standards.
✧ Maintenance checks. Applicable regulation authorities in the operators’ jurisdictions mandate that all aircraft undergo regular inspection and service.
In order to operate private jet charter flights, aircraft operators have to complete a thorough process, by law, to satisfy the relevant country’s national aviation authority that they are competent to undertake safe commercial operation of aircraft.
If this set of stringent requirements is met, an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) will be granted. This is alternatively known as an Air Carrier Operating Certificate in the USA.
The requirements for an AOC do vary from country to country, but generally includes an audit of areas such as company safety policy; management and organisational competence; crew training; aircraft maintenance; aircraft loading; flight planning; and fuel planning. It normally takes an operator or airline over 2 years to be issued with an AOC. It is a vigorous process and many new start-ups fail to be granted this licence to fly passengers.
BIRDY only works with approved operators who have a current AOC certification.
At BIRDY, we only provide charter on Part 135 aircraft in the USA, to ensure our passengers are receiving the safest and most reliable private jet service available.
The FAA (Federal Aviation Authority) grants a Part 135 certification to private jet operators that are permitted to fly commercially, including non-scheduled charter and air taxi operators.
There can be confusion between a Part 135 versus a Part 91 operator certificate. You can learn more about this difference here.
Our partner operators have extended their standards relating to COVID-19 – including crew health checks, aircraft cleaning regimes and other protocols that have been introduced in 2020, in line with EASA guidance.
Being COVID-safe is one the advantages of flying private nowadays; there are fewer people in your bubble, you are avoiding the airport crowds and potential stopovers, there is a high level of hygiene onboard, and you get flexible enough to deal with up-to-date restrictions.
While preparing your flight, BIRDY takes all the necessary measures to ensure your health and well-being on board. We follow all the recommendations from CDC & WHO including deep-cleaning of all aircrafts, sanitizing aircraft cabins, galleys & lavatories, and screening all crew members and passengers for health status before boarding. And of course, we make sure all our partners agree & follow the same safety procedures.
We hope this gives you the peace-of-mind and confidence to continue traveling with us during this time.
