Our Safety Standards
Nothing is more important to us than providing the safest flight experience possible. That’s why at Desert Jet we’ve gone to extreme measures to ensure we’ve reduced as much risk as possible from our operation.
We have hired the most experienced pilots to fly our aircraft. That’s not lip service, either. Our pilots have extensive corporate, charter and airline experience, making them the most well-rounded pilots you can imagine. Our pilots are all captains, with an average of 8000 hours of flight experience, and hold Airline Transport Pilot certificates with numerous type ratings (these allow one to captain a large aircraft). Each pilot holds a perfect safety record, with no accidents, incidents or violations. Desert Jet also maintains a flawless, perfect safety record.
Our pilots attend simulator-based emergency training twice per year. In addition, they participate in more detailed training on a wide variety of topics. Here are some of our recent training events;
- Bombardier’s Safety Standdown
- Tony Kern’s Program on Personal, Team and Organizational Error Control
- Emergency Drill and Evacuation Training
- Airborne Weather Radar Training
- Emergency Maneuvering and Upset Training
- Cardiopulminary Resuscitation
- Automatic Defibrillator Training
- Hypoxia Training
- Various programs related to IS-BAO Registration and SMS Development
Desert Jet is also one of the first 20 charter companies globally to achieve IS-BAO registration, a global aviation “best practices” standard that no charter brokers meet, and only a few charter companies have achieved. IS-BAO stands for “International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations”. This code of best practices was introduced by the International Business Aviation Council and has been widely adopted as the worldwide gold standard for business aircraft operations. It is similar to the ISO-9000 quality management standards in the manufacturing industry. The IS-BAO has been endorsed by the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) as well as multinational organizations worldwide. Audits are not provided by the organization, but rather by independent, third party auditors who are certificated by the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC). Read what Forbes.com has to say about the importance of IS-BAO registration in aircraft operations – “aviation authorities around the world… are looking to IS-BAO as a model.”
Desert Jet is Wyvern PASS Ready and holds the ARG/US Gold Plus Rating. For more information on what these safety designations mean, please see our article Aircraft Charter Safety Ratings -What Do They Really Mean?
Desert Jet has an active Safety Management System in place, where we proactively consider every potential risk and hazard prior to a proposed flight, and then mitigate each of these risks to an acceptable safety level. We have three levels of oversight before a flight is ever dispatched;
1) When a request for a flight is received, our charter dispatchers complete a safety checklist covering items such as runway length, airport capabilities and passenger requirements that may affect the aircraft’s performance capabilities.
2) Prior to dispatch, our Chief Pilot personally verifies that the weather is acceptable, the aircraft is airworthy and the pilots are fit (well-rested, qualified for the flight and have previous experience over the route to be flown).
3) The Captain makes one final determination for suitability of the flight. This process is ongoing and begins well before the scheduled flight. The Captain uses the Flight Risk Assessment Tool to determine the actual risks present in the operating environment at the time of departure and scheduled arrival. The Destination Airport Analysis Checklist is used in conjunction with this analysis to ensure that any unforeseen risks, such as rapidly changing weather conditions, do not affect the ability to use a particular airport. If any usual risk is present, or if a pattern of risk presents itself, the Captain and Chief pilot together review the flight circumstances and proceed to mitigate the risk. This might involve delaying a flight until conditions improve, or choosing more suitable alternate airport. Once mitigation procedures have been implemented, the Director of Operations give final approval to dispatch the flight. In any case, the flight is not dispatched until four personnel give the okay for safe operations – the charter dispatcher, the Captain, the Chief Pilot and the Director of Operations.
This is just a brief overview of all the safety precautions that we take behind the scenes to ensure your flight is the safest one possible. These procedures go above and beyond the FAA-mandated requirements and were developed to ensure your safety.
