The Commercial Ticket Myth
A helicopter pilot offered sightseeing Christmas tours unaware that he was breaking regulation.
John Croft is a civilian pilot and an operational safety analysist with the FAA. In this blog, he reflects on his past misunderstanding of regulations after observing another pilot making a similar mistake.
Soon after Ryan Swiatek received his commercial pilot certificate, the pilot and businessman had what he thought was a great idea — advertising $100 rides on social media for the public to see the panorama of Christmas lights around Wichita Falls, Texas.
“It exploded on Facebook, and here we are today, hammering it out one after another,” Swiatek told a local TV news station that had come out to interview him about the new air tour offer. He thought he was good to go: “I’ve got my own helicopter, I’ve got my commercial license,” he told the reporter.
Days later and a thousand miles northeast of Wichita Falls, a pilot in Maryland saw the news story and had a bad feeling. Was Ryan operating an illegal charter operation?
That pilot in Maryland was me, and I experienced déjà vu. Many years ago, I also had advertised what would have been considered an illegal charter, or air tour, soon after receiving my fixed-wing commercial certificate. Fate was kind however — social media didn’t yet exist, and no one took me up on the offer. The idea was abandoned before anyone noticed. I was in the category of what the FAA calls “clueless” illegal charters. Ouch.
Like me, Swiatek was caught up in the myth that earning your commercial pilot certificate means you can earn money with your aircraft however you choose — it’s a commercial pilot certificate after all. While the commercial ticket does allow you to “carry persons or property for compensation or hire”, it comes with a caveat: “provided the person is qualified in accordance with this part and with the applicable parts of this chapter that apply to the operation.”
For a sightseeing operation, Swiatek was also required to have an FAA authorization to conduct commercial air tours. That requires a Letter of Authorization (LOA) A049, which is a document issued by the local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO). LOA A049 outlines the limitations and provisions of 14 CFR 91.147, including a list of authorized aircraft and requirements for a drug and alcohol testing program. These are safeguards the FAA puts in place to protect the public from rogue operators, who may not be current with certification, training, or maintenance procedures.
Having a hunch about Ryan’s venture based on the news report, I sent an inquiry to the FAA’s Safe Air Charter Team. The FAA has a hotline that anyone can use to report what they suspect might be an illegal charter through the FAA Safe Air Charter website.
FAA inspectors Mike Bush and Tami Tucci conducted research and confirmed the validity of my hunch. Then they reached out to Swiatek, initially by email and then by phone.
“We asked him if he had FAA authorization for the air tours,” said Bush. He and Tucci confirmed that Swiatek was not authorized by the FAA to conduct air tour operations. The inspectors realized Swiatek had made an honest mistake and he was ready and willing to work with the FAA to comply.
“He recently got his commercial certificate and had insurance. He honestly thought he was all set for air tours,” said Bush.
This is a great example of the FAA’s just culture mindset. The FAA recognizes that some deviations are caused by a simple mistake or could stem from a lack of training, a lack of knowledge, diminished skills, or procedures that are not working as they should. This is the basis of the FAA’s Compliance Program. If a pilot is eligible, the FAA uses the situation as an educational opportunity to encourage open and honest reporting.
Education and outreach are an integral part of the Safe Air Charter Team’s mission. Bush and Tucci are part of a team that provides briefings and presentations to the FAA, the aviation industry and its stakeholders.
What Bush and Tucci saw in Swiatek’s case was an opportunity to help a very willing and able pilot to understand the requirements for operating commercial air tours. That meant connecting Swiatek with the Lubbock FSDO, which issued him an LOA and will oversee his operation.
What surprised Swiatek was the simplicity and speed at which the FAA moved to bring him into compliance. Bush and Tucci connected Swiatek with the Lubbock FSDO on a Friday afternoon, and after Swiatek passed a mandatory initial drug test, he was authorized to conduct air tours a couple of days later.
“It was all done online,” said Swiatek. “It was a very simple process.”
Regarding the privileges and limitations of his commercial pilot certificate, Swiatek understood that as the pilot in command, he was ultimately responsible for knowing the rules and regulations. He’s now a disciple for how to conduct commercial air tours with FAA authorization.
“I recently talked to a guy who was getting his commercial helicopter certificate, and he wants to do air tours,” said Swiatek. “I’m like, make sure you get an LOA. You need to go get that done.”
