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operational Control

What Does It mean?

By LEE SmITH

What is the first thing that comes to mind
when you hear the term "operational
control"? Many in the business aviation
industry tend to equate having operational
control with maintaining a flight locating
system. Although flight locating is related
to operational control, they are actually
two separate responsibilities (required by
FARs 135.79 and 135.77, respectively). The
concept of operational control is typically
associated with FAA certificated air carriers,
but can easily extend to flight departments
operating entirely under FAR Part 91.
Operational control for a flight is defined
as "the exercise of authority over initiating,
conducting, or terminating a flight." That
certainly seems like a broad definition, and
that's exactly what is intended. A properly
implemented system of operational control
provides a complete framework for keeping
both the air carrier as well as the individual
crewmembers safe and legal. Although compliance might require additional time and
result in an occasional canceled trip, these
systems should be thought of as more than
just red tape.
To determine whether a flight may be
conducted, an operator must first have all
of the knowledge necessary to make the
decisions and perform the actions necessary to safely and legally operate the flight.
As specified in OpSpec A008, the major
components of this knowledge include the
status of crewmembers, the status of aircraft, and whether the flight can be safely
conducted in accordance with the operator's OpSpecs.
In order to assign an aircraft to a given
flight, the aircraft must be able to comply
with any CDL or MEL limitations and any
lease or management agreements must
clearly state that the air carrier has possessory interest of the aircraft. Similarly, in
order to assign a crew to a flight, the operator must ensure that crewmembers are

trained, qualified, and in compliance with
flight, duty, and rest requirements.
Under FAR 135.69, the operator shares
responsibility with the pilot in command
to restrict or suspend operations if unsafe
conditions exist for the flight. This means
that the operator should also consider
the loading, route, and weather prior to
conducting a flight. Some operators might
consider this to be part of the charter quoting process, which may be done weeks
or months in advance of the actual flight.
However, considering the dynamic nature of
aviation, this hardly qualifies as exercising
operational control.
The pilot in command still retains full
control and authority in the operation of the
aircraft and has limited operational control
to initiate, continue, divert, or terminate
an assigned flight. However, this authority
does not extend to assigning or reassigning
flights. A common scenario is a passenger
requesting to change destinations shortly
before flight, or even in mid-flight. While

ter brokers also has the potential to complicate operational control. Whether or not
a flight is arranged through a broker has no
effect on the requirement of an air carrier to
exercise operational control over a flight it
is operating. Brokers never have operational
control. If a broker conveys operational
changes directly to the flight crew, the crew
has the responsibility to involve someone
authorized to exercise operational control.
When the FAA issues an air carrier certificate to an operator to transport people
and property for hire, that operator is held
to a higher set of standards than operations
entirely under Part 91. The exercise of operational control by air carriers is one example
of this higher set of standards. Many Part
91 flight departments who want to hold
themselves to higher sets of standards
consider this to be a best practice and have
implemented a similar operational control
structure on a voluntary basis.
Operational control for Part 135 operations doesn't require implementing airline-

To determine whether a flight may be conducted, an
operator must first have all of the knowledge necessary
to make the decisions and perform the actions necessary
to safely and legally operate the flight.
these scenarios wouldn't pose a problem
for many Part 91 operations, the pilot in
command cannot make these decisions
without the involvement of someone authorized to exercise operational control, even if
the request is to change destinations to an
airport just across town from what is shown
on the flight assignment.
In a pure charter environment, the exercise of operational control is straightforward. However, in practice many charter/
management companies use managed
aircraft for charter operations while allowing
the aircraft owner to operate flights under
Part 91, potentially with crewmembers
provided by the management company. In
these cases, the concept of operational
control can become more complicated and
must be clearly addressed in management
agreements.
In addition, the common use of air char-

style dispatch systems. However, some
companies such as Chicago Executive
Airport-based Priester Aviation have developed operational control systems that
combine the benefits of a dispatch system
with the flexibility required by unscheduled
charter operations. In fact, Priester has the
goal of having all of their flight followers
earn dispatch certifications even though
it isn't required for operations under Part
135. Bill McNease, Director of Operations,
calls this a "check and balance" for his
pilots and finds having a support network
and a second set of eyes on operations to
be beneficial.
Priester has also developed a streamlined method of ensuring that operational
control is maintained through the use of an
online form, which lists all relevant limitations on the use of an aircraft or crew. The
form must be validated by an employee
(continued on page 4)

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