Air Carrier Operations Part 121 vs Part 135
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Air Carrier Operations Part 121 vs Part 135
AVSC-3090: Airline and Dispatch Operations
Dr. Jack Troutt, Ed.D
Sep 2, 2023.
Air Carrier Operations
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The Federal Aviation Administration defines a Commercial air carrier as “any person or
business entity who undertakes directly by hire, lease or other arrangement to engage in the
carriage by aircraft of persons or property for compensation . This definition includes, but is not
limited to, the following: all classes of air carriers; commuter and air taxi operators; and,
commercial operators of large and small aircraft”. (Law insider,n.d.). All air carriers are subject
to a set of rules and regulations that they must follow in order to safely and legally conduct their
operations in the United States of America. The numerous sets of laws that make up the Federal
Aviation Regulations (FARS) are often laid out in sections called "parts" and the Federal
Aviation Administration ( FAA) is the body in charge of establishing and monitoring adherence
to these rules and regulations (Part 121 vs. 135 of FAA regulations, 2022). The FARS specify the
regulations that an air carrier must follow when conducting flight operations. In this paper, we
will explain the differences in operational capabilities between Part 121 and Part 135 air carriers,
highlighting the specific types of operations each can undertake.
To be an air carrier, one
must hold an Air Carrier Certificate or Operating Certificate
under Part 119 (14 CFR 121.1, 2022) . Part 121
Certification allows the operator to act as a
domestic, flag, or supplemental carrier. Part 121 operations are scheduled air carriers that
operate at least “5 round trips per week on at least one route between two or more points
according to the published flight schedule.” (Part 121 vs. 135 of FAA regulations, 2022). With
supplemental operations however; the operator and the customer negotiate the place and time of
flight departures and arrivals . All U.S. based regional and major airlines such as Delta and
United Airlines as well as some cargo operators operate in accordance with Part 121.
The FARS for commuter ( scheduled) and on-demand (non-scheduled/scheduled)
operations are found in Part 135. The main difference between Parts 121 and 135 operations lies
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in the type of aircraft that the carriers use. Part 121 flights are conducted in sophisticated turbo
jet aircrafts with a passenger seat configuration exceeding 9 and a payload capacity in excess of
7,500 pounds while Part 135 operations fly jet engines, small turbo-propeller aircraft, and
commercial helicopters with a max seating capacity of 9 people. Only in Non-scheduled
on-demand operations is it permissible to carry at most 30 passengers but still maintain a
capacity payload of less than 7,500 lbs. The difference between supplemental and on-demand
operations is that the former can exceed 30 passengers and the 7,500 lbs payload capacity. Air
operations conducted under Part 135 are private charter services; helicopters, corporate flying
and even some government-operated aircraft (Holt & Poynor, 2020). Unlike Part 135 carriers,
Part 121 carriers must have a hazardous approval program in place in order to operate ,
(Regularly Scheduled Air Carriers (Part 121), 2022). Part 121 also has more strict training and
maintenance requirements, operators are subject to much more regulation than carriers operating
under Part 135 of the FAR, because of this they are generally considered to be safer.
To operate under Part 121 and Part 135, pilots must have a commercial pilot’s license.
While a Part 135 operator is only required to have one pilot as crew, a Part 121 operator must
have at least two pilots operating the plane (Holt & Poynor, 2020) . The pilots are subject to
drug and alcohol testing and have higher required rest periods to avoid fatigue. The Pilot in
Command (PIC) on a Part 121 operation also shares operational control with a flight dispatcher
(Holt & Poynor, 2020), but in Part 135 operations the pilot can assume complete operational
control of the flight.Both Part 121 and Part 135 carriers offer for-profit flight services.
An example of an airline operating under 14 CFR Part 121 in the United States is the
low-cost airline Breeze Airways. Breeze headquarters are in Cottonwood Heights , Utah. It is a
relatively young airline which began operations in May 2021 and has since provided scheduled
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non-stop flight services to nearly 90 nonstop routes between approximately 28 cities across 18
states
in
the
United States. Destinations include Provo, Charleston, Columbus, Norfolk,
Pittsburgh, San Fransisco e.t.c . Breeze flies between secondary airports, bypassing major airline
hubs to achieve shorter travel times. They have 21 aircrafts in their fleet which are a mix of
Embraer 190, 195 and Airbus A220 aircraft (Breeze, n,d).
NetJets is a well-known fractional ownership and private jet charter company that
operates under 14 CFR Part 135 regulations. It began its operations in 1964 and has its
headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. It is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc (Netjets, 2023).
They operate globally and provide services across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and
Asia and have a vast network of airports and destinations, catering to a wide range of customers,
including business travelers, leisure travelers, and high-net-worth individuals. NetJets owns and
operates the largest and most diverse private jet fleets in the world, (Netjets, 2023) . Their fleet
includes various types of aircraft, from long-range, large, super-midsize,midsize and light jets.
The long range fleet comprises the Bombadier Global family of aircrafts, while the large jet is
typically the Bombardier Challenger 650 . The rest of the fleet is a mix of various Cessna
Citation jets , as well as the Embraer Phenom 300 and Praetor 500, being the babies of the pack.
Netjets has well over 900 aircrafts and “unmatched experience” when it comes to providing
wordclass charter services.
REFERENCES
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1.
Holt, M., & Poynor, P. (2020).
Air carrier Operations
(3rd ed.) Aviation Supplies &
Academics, Inc.
2.
Federal Aviation Administration (2021,August 28).Re
gularly Scheduled Air Carriers
(Part
121)
.https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/air_carriers/operations/part_121#:~:text=Air%20carrier
s%20authorized%20to%20operate,carriers%2C%20and%20all%20cargo%20operators.
3.
Law insider. (n.d.). Commercial air carrier.
In Law Insider dictionary.
Retrieved Sep 6,
2022, from https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/commercial-air-carrier.
4.
Marko, S. (n.d.).
Part 121 vs Part 135 Operations: The Difference.
Retrieved Sep 6,
2022, from
https://aerocorner.com/blog/part-121-vs-part-135/#:~:text=While%20a%20Part%20135%
20operator,only%20covers%20on%2Ddemand%20service.
5.
Thank you
. NetJets. (n.d.). https://www.netjets.com/en-us/
6.
Our Aircraft
. Breeze. (n.d.). https://www.flybreeze.com/our-fleet/A220-300/A220-126