What are part 135 minimums?

The Part 135 operators are the best safety-wise. The pilots are required to have a minimum of 500 total flight hours, 100 cross-country flight hours and 25 night, and cross-country flight hours.



Under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, Part 135 governs on-demand charter and commuter flight operations, which have stricter pilot requirements than private (Part 91) flying. To serve as a Pilot in Command (PIC) for a Part 135 operation under Visual Flight Rules (VFR), a pilot must have at least 500 hours of total flight time, including 100 hours of cross-country and 25 hours of night flight. For Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations, the "minimums" jump significantly to 1,200 hours of total time, 500 hours of cross-country, 100 hours of night time, and 75 hours of actual or simulated instrument time. Additionally, pilots must hold at least a commercial pilot certificate with appropriate category and class ratings. Commuter operations carrying passengers typically require even higher experience levels and specific "operating experience" hours in the specific aircraft type. These strict thresholds ensure that charter passengers are flown by highly experienced aviators who have proven their skills across diverse and challenging flight conditions.

People Also Ask

Operators of business aircraft that wish to conduct operations for compensation or hire are generally certificated under Part 135 of the FARs. As a certificate holding entity, the operator must comply with a number of FAA requirements regarding areas such as flight operations, maintenance and training.

MORE DETAILS

A single-pilot operator is a certificate holder that is limited to using only one pilot for all part 135 operations. That specific pilot is listed by name and certificate number on the FAA issued Operations Specification (OpSpec) A040.

MORE DETAILS

Visibility requirements regarding weather conditions also apply under Part 135. The Visual Flight Rules for visibility for aircraft says “No person may operate an airplane under VFR in uncontrolled airspace when the ceiling is less than 1,000 feet unless flight visibility is at least 2 miles.”

MORE DETAILS

At its core, FAA Part 135 is a certificate required by the Federal Aviation Administration for a company to operate as a non-scheduled air charter carrier. It's designed to set boundaries and establish safety procedures for jet charters and other types of commercial aviation operations that fly on demand.

MORE DETAILS

On-demand operators operating under part 135 fly aircraft for hire with 30 passenger seats or less and a payload capacity of 7,500 pounds or less (when holding out services to the public) or 20 passenger seats or less and a payload capacity of less than 6,000 pounds (if not holding out services to the public).

MORE DETAILS

As mentioned above, the key difference between part 91 and part 135 operations is that Part 91 flights are considered non-commercial, while Part 135 flights are commercial. This has a number of implications for the operator, passengers and insurance providers.

MORE DETAILS

(e) No pilot may fly as a member of a crew more than 100 hours during any one calendar month. (f) No pilot may fly as a member of a crew more than 1,000 hours during any 12-calendar-month period.

MORE DETAILS

For those pilots looking to achieve their ATP Certificate, you must have a minimum of 1500 hours of flight experience logged in your logbook. But don't forget that it's not only the number of hours that qualify for certification, it's also the type of flying experience you bring that sets you apart.

MORE DETAILS