Story ID: 
DOT warns about Part 125, brokers
By: Gordon Gilbert
Caption: A DOT notice issued December 19 warns colleges arranging charter flights on large aircraft to football bowl games, basketball playoffs or other “special ev
Word Count: 130
A DOT notice issued December 19 warns colleges arranging charter flights on large aircraft to football bowl games, basketball playoffs or other “special events” that Part 125 operators and independent charter brokers are not regulated to the same level as Part 121 carriers. “Since carriers operating under Part 125 are not authorized to hold out to the general public, Part 125 does not contain safety standards as stringent as Part 121,” the DOT said. “Likewise, carriers lawfully operating under Part 125 hold no economic license from [the] DOT and are not required to comply with [the] DOT’s insurance or monetary escrow requirements.” The DOT also wants colleges to know that “since the department does not license air charter brokers, there is no DOT-required financial security in place to protect an organization’s payments to a broker.”