From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Approval by civil aviation authorities to operate aircraft for commercial purposes
For other uses, see
AOC
.
An
air operator's certificate
(
AOC
) is the approval granted by a
civil aviation authority
(CAA) to an
aircraft
operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and systems in place to ensure the safety of its employees and of the flying public. The certificate lists the approved aircraft types, each registration number approved to fly, the approved flying purpose and in what area the holder may operate (such as specific airports or geographic region).
Categories
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AOCs can be granted for one or more of the following activities:
Low capacity operations is when operating aircraft with under 38 passenger seats, high capacity is greater than 38 seats.
[1]
Requirements
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The requirements for obtaining an AOC vary from country to country, but are generally defined as:
[2]
[3]
- Sufficient personnel with the required experience for the type of operations requested.
- Airworthy
aircraft, suitable for the type of operations requested.
- Acceptable systems for the training of crew and the operation of the aircraft (Operations Manual).
- A quality system to ensure that all applicable regulations are followed.
- The appointment of key accountable staff, who are responsible for specific safety critical functions such as training, maintenance and operations.
- Carriers Liability Insurance (for Airlines) ? Operators are to have sufficient insurance to cover the injury or death of any passenger carried.
[4]
- Proof that the operator has sufficient finances to fund the operation.
- The operator has sufficient ground infrastructure, or arrangements for the supply of sufficient infrastructure, to support its operations into the ports requested.
- The certificate is held by a
legal person
who resides in the country or region of application (for
EASA
).
International variations
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An AOC is referred to as an
Air Carrier Operating Certificate
in the United States and as an
Air Operator Certification
in New Zealand.
New Zealand
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Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand's Part 119 establishes
Air Operator Certification rules for Air Transport Operations (ATO) and Commercial Transport Operations (CTO)
. They provide two levels of certification: (a) AOC for air operations in all sizes of aircraft; (b) general aviation AOC for air operations in helicopters and aircraft with nine or less passenger seats.
[5]
United States
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According to the
United States Department of Transportation
, the
Federal Aviation Administration
is to maintain an airline air carrier's operating certificate in the category of fitness. An air carrier must maintain the following three standards:
[6]
adequate financing, competent management, a willingness to comply with applicable laws and regulations. At least 75 percent of airlines controlling voting equity must be held by US citizens.
Transfer
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An AOC is valuable. It shows the relevant NAA's acceptance of the operator's personnel, infrastructure and procedures. In most jurisdictions
[
which?
]
an AOC may be sold or acquired to avoid the arduous process of gaining regulator acceptance for a new AOC. To this end, a failed airline can be sold as a
going concern
and then changed into another business. For example,
Northwest Airlines
bought
FLYi
airline's AOC to start
Compass Airlines
, now a
feeder airline
for
Delta Air Lines
marketed as
Delta Connection
. Likewise
Strategic Airlines
purchased the AOC, staff and routes of the failed
OzJet
airlines.
[7]
References
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External links
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