FAA moves to toughen safety rules on public charter airlines

The FAA plans to impose tougher safety requirements on public charter airlines such as Dallas-based JSX, a move toward closing what critics have called a loophole in US aviation rules. The new regulations aim to ensure that public charters that effectively operate like a typical commercial airline abide by the same safety rules, the FAA said in a statement on Monday. JSX markets itself as “the ultimate travel hack” because passengers can bypass airport crowds and security lines. “If a company is effectively operating as a scheduled airline, the FAA needs to determine whether those operations should follow the same stringent rules as scheduled airlines,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said. The rise in popularity of operations like JSX and whether they pose any safety or security risks has split the industry. Critics have said JSX and others like it exploit a loophole in current rules, allowing them to operate scheduled flights like large airlines under less-stringent standards intended to govern private charter operations. Proponents have argued for keeping the status quo since such carriers serve small cities and provide a pipeline for pilots. JSX has also attracted big backers in the industry, with United Airlines Holdings Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp. among its investors. The move announced Monday comes after the regulator solicited feedback on potential rule changes in August, leading to about 60,000 comments from other airlines, unions, airports, cities and travelers. “As the country’s largest public charter air carrier, JSX has modeled the way forward for safe, secure, and reliable regional operations,” JSX said in a statement. “We eagerly look forward to collaborating with our regulators to cement the importance of public charters and expand access to vital air connectivity in the future.”<br/>