Guide
How to check a charter operator and the aircraft
Updated
Two things are checkable before you fly, and the second is the one brokers least expect to be asked about.
The aircraft
US aircraft are registered and the registry is a public record. If you are quoted a specific tail number, you can look it up. If an operator will not tell you which aircraft is being offered, that is itself informative.
Ask for the tail number at quotation stage rather than at booking.
Who is operating
There is a difference between the company selling you the trip and the company holding the certificate under which the flight operates. Brokers arrange; operators fly.
Ask directly which company will operate the flight and under what certificate. A broker who answers plainly is fine; one who avoids the question is selling you something they have not yet secured.
Insurance and liability
Ask what liability cover the operator carries and whether you are named. It is a normal question in business aviation and an operator will have the answer to hand.
If the answer takes a week to arrive, you have learned something about how the operation is run.
Then judge the commercial terms
Cancellation windows, change fees, aircraft substitution rights and what happens if the aircraft goes technical. These are where a cheap quote and an expensive one diverge on the day it matters.
Substitution is worth particular attention: if the aircraft changes, establish whether the rate changes with it.