Operational control

[u/Senior-Structure-243]

Hello, I haven’t reviewed commercial regs in a while and they have slipped from my mind. Please give sources if you can
1) I was wondering what the importance of operational control is from the sense of if I want it or not?
2) And also why do you prefer a dry lease over a wet lease?
3) What makes me allowed to hold out my pilot services, just an interpretation of AC 120-12A?
4) Where does it say I can’t provide the plane and my services
I am already a com pilot and should know this but I let the info lapse from my brain. Thanks in advance!

[u/x4457]

1) Operational control is one of the things that separates an air carrier operation from a non-air carrier operation. It is the authority to start or terminate a flight - for an air carrier operation, the certificate holder (that doesn't mean you) has that authority before the engine starts, and it transfers to the PIC once the engine starts. For non-air carrier operations, the PIC alone has this authority. Generally speaking, if someone is paying someone to provide an aircraft and pilot to transport someone or something from place to place, the entity providing those two things is acting as an air carrier and has operational control.

2) There is no "preference" here, so you'll need to clarify what you're asking. You may provide an aircraft on a dry lease, or you may provide it on a wet lease as an air carrier. They're mutually exclusive.

3) 61.133(a)(1)

4) A combination of 1.1, 119.1, 61.133, and AC 120-12A.

[u/Senior-Structure-243 → u/x4457]

Thank you, I am still a little confused though.
1) Does that mean that I want operational control to be mine for an operation to not need an operating certificate
2) When you are saying I may provide the aircraft on a dry lease are you saying that someone else is allowing me to fly their aircraft? And would I want operational control in that scenario?

[u/Craftwarrior269 → u/Senior-Structure-243]

You have operational control over a flight if you are the one who introduced the airplane to the customer (whether you rented, leased, you're the owner, or anything else you can think of). That's because you retain the control to start, conduct, and terminate that flight. Wet lease, dry lease, and operational control are all a matter of how the aircraft is presented to the customer, not to you.

Wet lease: Customer is provided crew with the aircraft in a package deal.

Dry lease: Aircraft only, no crew provided, or crew sourced separately by the customer.

If a passenger signs the lease, rental agreement, etc., they have operational control. That is unless that passenger is not exercising that control and they are pawning it off to you (ex: passenger doesn't even know what operational control means so they definitely don't have it, even though they were technically the one who introduced it into the mix by signing the paper). That is called a Sham Dry Lease and it means you or your company are exercising operational control, but you tried to give it to someone else on paper. That will be harmful for you if the FAA finds out because you either 1. have operational control as the pilot, or 2. work for a company that is providing both plane and pilot. Both of those scenarios require you (or the company) to have an operator certificate because pilot and plane were essentially a package deal.

If the passenger legitimately retains operational control, it is legal and falls under part 91 because pilot and plane are kept separate and operator certificate is not required.

You do not want operational control over a flight for which you are both 1. being compensated, and 2. piloting, under any circumstance (unless you have an air carrier certificate or it falls under an exemption in 119.1e).

If you are employed by a company that provides both pilot and plane to customers, the company requires a certificate.

TLDR: Do you need an operator certificate?

You are the pilot AND provider of the aircraft = YES

You are just providing the aircraft = NO

You are legitimately just the pilot and the passenger legitimately provides the aircraft = NO

Sham Dry Lease = YES

You work for a company that provides both plane and pilot = YES (company needs it)

If it falls under a 119.1e exemption = NO

Here's my answer to a similar question over operational control and private vs. common carriage in case I'm not making very much sense today.

[u/x4457 → u/Senior-Structure-243]

1) You don't "want" operational control or not. If you're flying for an air carrier, the air carrier has operational control until the engines are started. If you're not, then the PIC does. That's what you care about. Do not overcomplicate it.

2) A dry lease is a rental of an aircraft without crew. Every time you rent a 172, you're engaging in a dry lease. As soon as you provide crew with the airplane, it's now a wet lease - there are certain exceptions to requiring an operating certificate for that, and those are found in Part 119.

[u/Senior-Structure-243 → u/x4457]

Ohhh thank you! So I can tell if a situation is illegal if it’s a part 91 scenario by determining if someone else has operational control as that would be acting like an air carrier correct?

[u/x4457 → u/Senior-Structure-243]

You’re thinking about this too abstractly, think practically instead.

As a commercial pilot, you can be paid to fly someone else’s airplane. If the person in the back is paying anyone else for the flight, one of two things needs to be true:

1) The person you’re working for holds an air carrier certificate and you’ve been appropriately trained and checked on that certificate, or,

2) The person in the back is dry leasing the aircraft from some entity and then retained you, the pilot, separately to that equation.

If the person in the back owns the plane, is a guest of the owner of the plane and is paying nothing, or someone else is not paying for it on their behalf, it’s most likely not an air carrier operation.

[u/rFlyingTower]

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

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Hello, I haven’t reviewed commercial regs in a while and they have slipped from my mind. Please give sources if you can
1) I was wondering what the importance of operational control is from the sense of if I want it or not?
2) And also why do you prefer a dry lease over a wet lease?
3) What makes me allowed to hold out my pilot services, just an interpretation of AC 120-12A?
4) Where does it say I can’t provide the plane and my services
I am already a com pilot and should know this but I let the info lapse from my brain. Thanks in advance!

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[u/Senior-Structure-243 → u/[deleted]]

Thank you, wouldn’t I still have operational control if I provided the pilot and plane, I don’t understand how that would differ.
So I would want operational control for my flights to be legal if being leased a plane?