Best Jets International Receives FAA Part 121 Supplemental Air Carrier Certification, Expands Embraer 170 Charter Fleet

Best Jets International has received FAA Part 121 Supplemental Air Carrier Certification, a step that lets the company expand large-group charter operations using its Embraer 170 fleet. The aircraft will eventually be based in the Midwest and Florida.

The company now offers four Embraer 170 aircraft for charter service: two configured in a 30-passenger executive layout and two in a 60-passenger configuration. The Part 121 certification is particularly significant for the 60-passenger aircraft, since the company had previously operated its 30-passenger executive Embraer 170s under Part 135. Best Jets International will continue to operate its existing Part 135 certificate alongside the new Part 121 Supplemental certification, and its broader fleet also includes midsize, super-midsize, and long-range private jets.

The Embraer 170 fleet is intended to serve charter brokers, corporate travel planners, sports organizations, tour operators, and group travel customers requiring capacity beyond what a traditional business aircraft can provide. Target use cases include corporate shuttle programs, manufacturing and retail distribution travel, sports team transport, entertainment tours, and special event transportation. Troy Salwei, Vice President of Commercial Operations at Best Jets International, said the Embraer 170 is "an ideal aircraft for organizations that need to move groups efficiently while maintaining the service, flexibility, and convenience that private aviation provides," adding that Part 121 certification "allows us to expand our capabilities and better serve customers requiring larger-capacity charter solutions." Best Jets International was founded in 1995 as a private air charter and aircraft management company.

This case illustrates how charter operators expand beyond the standard business-jet segment: rather than adding more midsize or long-range aircraft, the operator adds regional-jet capacity and the certification tier needed to fly it at higher passenger counts. Part 135 governs the smaller executive-configured aircraft, while Part 121 Supplemental authority is what permits the 60-passenger configuration to fly commercially, so holding both certificates side by side lets a single fleet serve both traditional charter clients and large-group movements like sports teams or corporate shuttles.

For the group-charter niche, this shows capacity and certification moving together: an operator cannot simply reconfigure a jet for more seats without the regulatory authority to match, which is why the 60-passenger aircraft sat idle from a charter standpoint until Part 121 came through. What follows will be whether the Midwest and Florida basing plans materialize on a stated timeline and whether utilization on the 60-passenger configuration matches the demand Best Jets is targeting from sports organizations and tour operators.