Mar 29, 2012 - Like many things in life, the rich and famous have a greater freedom of choice and can actually choose the amount of experience both their pilot and copilot have before committing to a private jet flight. 

"There are a couple of very reputable rating agencies that report on the experience and safety records of the pilots, the plane itself, and the management company for private jet charter flights." said Michael Payne, CEO at Private Flight Advisors, a boutique private jet charter and advisory firm based in Quincy, MA.  

"Private Flight Advisors has access to this information and can help our clients make an informed choice on each and every flight that they undertake.  As the recent JetBlue incident has demonstrated the experience and safety record of the copilot is just as vital as the primary pilot in cases of emergency."

Commercial Pilot and airline ratings are not as easy to obtain, and certainly not prevalent like they are in the private jet charter industry. "Commercial airlines work on minimum FAA requirements, which are currently under review."  Said Private Flight Advisors’ Chief Safety Office LT. Commander, USN (retired) John Dobbins. " Wouldn't it be nice if we all got to make our own decisions on price vs. safety rather than trusting a Government agency to make those decisions for us?"

What separates private jet flying from commercial flying is the importance of third party certificates and audits in the private jet industry. For example, Wyvern, a third-party risk management company utilized by many private jet operators requires the pilot to have an ATP license, the highest level pilot-rating. To receive an ATP license a pilot must have a commercial license and 3000 total hours of flying time, about 30 times more hours necessary for a commercial license. 

“These third-party certificates are so established in the private jet industry that without them, almost all customers will go to a provider that does.” Said Michael. “Working in this industry where clients have more control over price and safety, we do everything it takes to go above and beyond all of the necessary safety requirements. It is an unfortunate situation what happened with Captain Osbon on that JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas, and we are happy everyone is okay. It goes to show how important a copilot is on an aircraft, and how valuable their expertise is in a trying situation. It will be interesting to see what happens with minimum FAA requirements or if we begin to see gradations of safety control in the commercial airline industry.”

Private Flight Advisors is a Wyvern Authorized Broker http://www.weflysafe.com/Brokers/Detail.aspx?id=2530

For more information on Private Flight Advisors please call 866-763-9963 or visithttp://www.privateflightadvisors.com