Business Aviation Operations (Flight Operations, Scheduling, Dispatch, Operational Control)
This domain covers the operating core: planning, scheduling, dispatch, and who is accountable when a trip changes. CAM questions test operational control, crew legality, international trip logistics, and the boundary between customer service and regulation.
Core rules
- Operational control: under Part 135, the certificate holder holds operational control and is responsible for flight release, crew legality, and operational policy. The PIC has final authority over the aircraft and the flight. A client contract cannot transfer either.
- Scheduling is not dispatching: schedulers build the trip; dispatch releases it under the certificate holder's procedures. Both must verify weather, NOTAMs, fuel, alternates, MEL deferrals, and crew duty limits.
- Duty and rest: unscheduled Part 135 operations under 135.267 use a 14-hour duty period and 10 consecutive hours of rest in each 24; scheduled operations follow 135.265. Flight time and duty time are different clocks.
- International: overflight and landing permits, slots, customs, eAPIS manifests, visas, and security clearances all have lead times. A permit is not a landing clearance, and a landing permit is not an overflight permit.
Worked example
A crew signs on at 0700 EST in Teterboro, flies 5.5 hours to Los Angeles, sits 2 hours, then flies 1.5 hours to San Diego. Arrival in LA is 1030 PST (1330 EST); the second leg ends 1500 PST (1800 EST). Total duty is 11 hours, inside the 14-hour limit, but the return the next morning must still respect the 10-hour rest requirement. The scheduler must also check cumulative flight time, not just the duty day.
Traps
Saying the dispatcher holds operational control; assuming the PIC can accept a trip outside OpSpecs; mixing flight time with duty time; ignoring permit lead times; forgetting that a Part 91 repositioning leg still needs a legal crew.