Phil,
You say you'd quite happily fly with any UK AOC operator.
Are you serious? Anybody with a bit of inside info about a number of charter companies knows that no AOC (regardless of the country that issues it) is a guarantee for safe and sound ops.
While I don't know anything about Ambeo, I know from talking to a former CAA inspector that a number of (especially) smaller operators leave A LOT to be desired from a safety point of view. Some cut corners to save money, and the CAA usually go after them IF they find out, and others are to small and/or inexperienced to know any better and the CAA often cuts them some slack trying to help them to get on the right track.
Common issues are related to documentation of A/C performance (runway weight charts, obstacle info etc) for real world use (where the AFM is pretty useless) as well as solid SOP's that are in line with the AFM and EU OPS and are regularely trained and adhered to. The last point is a real concern with any operator who employs freelance pilots that work for more than one or two operators.
I would most certainly not be happy to fly with just any UK (or German, or French, or any other for that matter) AOC operator.
Last edited by 733driver; 29th Sep 2010 at 14:13.