NTSB Data Shows Part 135 Charter Accident Rates Above Airline Rates; Operator Systems Key to Private Jet Safety

Jet Linx Aviation has published a guide arguing that private jet safety depends heavily on the operator behind a flight. The guide cites a 2024 NTSB finding that accident rates for Part 135 operations, which include on-demand charter, stayed higher than airline rates from 2010 through 2022. That finding covers an entire category, from single-pilot air taxis to larger and more complex charter operations, and does not describe how any single operator runs its flights.

The guide separates four types of operation, each working under different rules and resources: scheduled commercial airlines, on-demand charter under FAA Part 135, corporate or managed private aircraft, and owner-flown private aircraft. Results within private aviation vary widely by operator and type of flight.

In April 2024, the FAA issued a rule requiring every Part 135 operator to have a Safety Management System (SMS) in place by May 2027. The guide notes that two providers can meet the same minimum and still differ in training depth, maintenance oversight, reporting culture, and day-to-day consistency.

The systems the guide says travelers should check are pilot qualification and aircraft-specific and recurrent training; maintenance planning, inspections and accurate records; weather review, route planning and flight-specific risk assessment; operational control, meaning who has authority to proceed with, change, delay or cancel a flight; an SMS for identifying and addressing risk; emergency response planning; and independent audits or certifications. Its pre-booking checklist covers the applicable FAA operating certificate, pilot standards and who can delay or cancel a flight.

Jet Linx Aviation says it provides centralized flight coordination, proactive flight risk assessments and 24/7 flight following, and that crews complete recurrent simulator training through FlightSafety International and CAE. It holds three third-party certifications: ARGUS Platinum Elite, WYVERN Wingman PRO and IS-BAO Stage 3. The company also grounds its entire fleet for a full day each year for an annual Safety Summit, a practice begun in 2017.

Jet Linx Aviation describes its own program in terms of the same categories it urges travelers to check. It names centralized flight coordination, flight risk assessments before departure and round-the-clock flight following as its operating controls.

On training, it says crews complete recurrent simulator sessions through FlightSafety International and CAE. On external validation, it lists ARGUS Platinum Elite, WYVERN Wingman PRO and IS-BAO Stage 3. The annual full-day fleet grounding for a Safety Summit has run since 2017.

The NTSB comparison is a category average, and the guide itself stresses that it says little about any one provider. That is how on-demand charter works in practice: Part 135 certificate holders range from single-pilot air taxis to large multi-aircraft fleets, so a buyer is really choosing an operator's control systems, not a regulatory label. Operators that can show how they handle training, maintenance records, risk review and go/no-go authority sit in a different position from those that point only to certificate status.

The SMS mandate changes the floor, not the spread. Every Part 135 operator must have one by May 2027, so holding an SMS stops being a differentiator, and attention shifts to how deeply it is applied, including reporting culture and consistency. Third-party audits such as ARGUS, WYVERN and IS-BAO become the way operators try to evidence that depth beyond the minimum.

The May 2027 compliance date is the next milestone. Until then, operators will be at different stages of building these systems, and the guide's checklist items are the points on which providers can be compared.