start your own business!
 

just purely out of curiosity:

what does it take to start up a basic GA charter business? obviously there's the business of getting an AOC, ops manual, chief pilot approval etc. but what's it like?

if u've been down this road i'd like to hear from u.

is CASA generally helpful and cooperative in helping people in this kind of venture or are they the humourless sods they're rumoured to be?

is it an expensive and time consuming process?

is a flying school AOC easier to get than a SE VFR charter AOC?

and if u have started your own company, why? was it because it was a profitable venture or was it more for love of flying?

OK

You can buy a generic Op's Manual for about $700 or so, unless you are an instructor and love paper work a charter AOC would be easier.

Obviously you need to qualify and cover all the CAO 82's etc and then there are things like passenger carrying insurance for each aircraft which can get expensive.

I have heard some people buying exsisting AOC's but I can't imagine CASA approving of this and surely they would go through the complete re-issue process if this was done to cover themselves.

The ottom line is do you have enough work to make a go of it, CASA isn't going to issue AOC's for say 50 hour's flying per year, are they ?

I would think all up to get going just for the AOC it will cost about $2000 including the chief pilot interview and flight check for a basic AOC charter.

Cheer's

An AOC can not be 'transfered' - It is linked to the company, individual and/or ABN number.

In order to buy an existing AOC you must therefore buy the company (and therefore assume any skeletons that come with it) - not advisable.

Contact the CASA service centre (CASA web site). It may take up to three months for the service centre to process but they can give you a better timeline.

And that's just the service centre. After that you will have to go through your local area office who will put a borescope up you.

I was just quoted 9 weeks to add a new type to my AOC - just think, 2 months of lease payments before you can operate!.

Whatever you do, start small. Apply for the most basic AOC just to get the runs on the board. If you want a flight school, just start with the basic PPL, NVFR. If you want a charter AOC, just ask initially for SE VFR.

Apparently, the whole process of applying goes on-line from September.

If you try and get a complex AOC off the ground from the word go then you will have a tough time.

Good Luck

Probably the most important thing to have is business and management experience, not necessarily in aviation. Start small,keep the overheads down, do as much as you can yourself, and don't take on any big financial committments until you have been operating for at least a year and have seen the trends. And treat your staff right! They are the ones who will make and break you.

When I got my AOC five years ago I was lucky, the CASA guy assigned to me was helpfulness itself, I applied for the AOC at our local office and it was all done in a matter of a couple of weeks and a couple of hundred bucks (wrote the ops manual myself, it was a pretty straightforward application).

Now the local office is gone, I have had someone else assigned to me, and the "Service centre" (what a joke) require about three months to reissue the AOC when it runs out, and they nearly didn't renew it because I didn't have what they considered to be the necessary qualifications, ie time in commercial ops other than instructing, to be the CFI. Never mind a clean bill of health in safety, and ten years as an instructor....:rolleyes: It finally came through 24 hours before the old one expired.

So no, don't expect them to be helpful.

".....is CASA generally helpful and cooperative in helping people in this kind of venture...."

Oh, yes. Definately! They'll be falling over each other to assist you!

:D :D :D :D :D

Basic AOC? My guestimate: $7,000 plus and at least nine months of frustration.

In a different time I once got a charter AOC (for pressurised turbine aircraft) in less than 15 days! But those days are long since gone.

Check out another current thread where one operator has been trying for weeks just to add a new type to his AOC.

It has been said that the Aviation Industry in Australia operates despite the best efforts of CASA.

Torres:

Got a mate who's been waiting 6 weeks now to add another piston twin to an existing AOC.

The service centre was OK when it first started. Now it's no faster than before. In fact - it's added yet another set of hands in the system.

I hope the new 'on-line' application will be better.

Yes, I had a look at the AOC On Line web site.

My guess they won't be on the same line as industry! Indeed, if CASA's stated policy is that AOC issue or amendment is the lowest priority, would CASA really try to expedite the system?

I think not!

Torres: Do you have a link for the new site?

RFG - that took a bit of re finding!!!!! Not at the CASA web site.

http://aoconline.icemedia.com.au/

Seems to be a contracted out deal.

The Cyberexams were contracted overseas.

I wonder where these guys are from.

Just like those exams. "whoops sorry the computer crashed whilst submitting your exam, come back in two weeks, but we are really nice guys, you won't have to pay your exam fee again.":rolleyes: