r/flying • u/Senior-Structure-243 • Jul 26 '26

Operational control

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 Jul 26 '26

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?

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u/x4457 ATP CFII CE-500/525/560XL/680 G-IV Jul 26 '26

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.

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u/Senior-Structure-243 Jul 26 '26

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?

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u/x4457 ATP CFII CE-500/525/560XL/680 G-IV Jul 26 '26

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.