US Charter Operator Best Jets Gains FAA Part 121 Approval, Plans Fleet of Four Embraer E170s

Best Jets, a charter operator based at St. Paul Downtown Airport in Minnesota, received FAA supplemental Part 121 certification on August 27, following proving runs completed on August 6. The certification allows the company to conduct larger charter operations under the same regulations used by US scheduled airlines, though Best Jets is not launching scheduled passenger services.

Founded in 1995, Best Jets has traditionally operated under Part 135 regulations, focusing on aircraft management and private charter with business jets including the Gulfstream V, Dassault Falcon 900DX and Cessna Citation Sovereign. The company submitted its Preapplication Statement of Intent to the FAA in April, according to US Department of Transportation filings.

Best Jets plans to operate four Embraer E170s across two configurations. Two aircraft feature 30-seat executive interiors and have already been used for charter under the company's existing Part 135 certificate; these are registered N175RS, N176RS and N177RS in public fleet databases, all approximately 20 years old, with a third aircraft among these three also identifiable. Two additional E170s will be configured with 60 seats for Part 121 operations, and their registrations have not been disclosed. All four aircraft are expected to complete FAA conformity inspections by November 1, and are expected to be based in the US Midwest and Florida.

Best Jets is targeting professional and collegiate sports teams, corporate groups, entertainment organizations and government customers. The E170 entered commercial service in 2004 and typically seats 70 to 78 passengers in standard airline configuration, making Best Jets' 30-seat variants unusually spacious by comparison.

This case illustrates how a Part 135 charter operator can graduate into Part 121 territory without becoming a scheduled airline, using the heavier certification purely to unlock larger, higher-capacity group movements. Sports teams, corporate groups and entertainment organizations that need to move 60 or more people at once have historically been underserved by both scheduled service and traditional business-jet charter, and this certification path lets an operator like Best Jets address that gap with converted narrowbody equipment instead of ordering new aircraft.

The reliance on early-generation E170s, aircraft that entered service in 2004 and are now roughly two decades old, also points to a secondary market forming around aircraft too small for mainline scheduled carriers but well suited to charter density work once reconfigured. Converting two of the four jets to 30 seats instead of the standard 70-78 suggests the executive-charter segment values space and privacy over maximum yield per aircraft.

The near-term marker to watch is whether all four aircraft clear FAA conformity inspections by November 1, and whether the two 60-seat aircraft's registrations and specific basing at Midwest and Florida locations are disclosed once operations begin.