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By William Garvey
Seven months after FAA inspectors descended unannounced upon AMI Jet Charter's (AMIJC) offices in search of something, the agency yesterday issued an "emergency suspension" of the company's FAR 135 operating certificate.
AMIJC provides the vast majority of charter flights arranged by TAG Aviation USA. It is thought to be the AMIJC -- TAG relationship that is at the heart of the FAA action. Swiss-owned and thus prohibited from holding a commercial charter certificate in its own right, TAG Aviation USA serves as AMIJC's "charter sales agent" and its Geneva-based holding company owns 49 percent of the California-based charter operator.
After a series of high-profile accidents involving charter operators other than AMIJC, FAA is demonstrating a new insistence that the "operational control" of every charter flight conducted by U.S. certificate holders be free of any ambiguity. The agency has begun an intensive review of every FAR 135 operator to ensure that they are full compliance with new requirements contained in OpSpec A008 aimed at clarifying the control issue.
However, it is believed that the items cited in FAA's order did not so much address operational control concerns, but rather the failure of AMIJC to provide certain records in a timely fashion. One insider described the list of particulars as "chicken... stuff."
The revocation caused TAG to scramble to rebook a number of charter customers with other carriers.
The charter industry has been following the AMIJC investigation closely since it is regarded as one of the best managed and safest of the 900 or so FAR 135 holders operating jets. Jet Aviation, another Swiss owned company, is keenly interested in what happens to AMIJC since it similarly acts as an agent for New World Jet, a U.S. charter outfit.
Established in 1998, the year TAG began business in the United States, AMIJC has consistently earned the Platinum rating conferred by Aviation Research Group/US (ARG/US), an independent rating agency.
Chuck McLeran, AMIJC CEO said, "We are confident that we can demonstrate AMIJC's outstanding safety record to the FAA and our continued commitment to full compliance with all applicable regulations and procedures." He continued, "We intend to work with the FAA so we can address these issues and continue doing what we do best -- serving our customers with the high caliber of safety and service they have come to expect. Working with the FAA, we believe these issues can be resolved at the earliest possible time."
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