Your business aviation hot takes, served fresh.

September 30th, 2026 | Season 3 Episode 39 Companion

Good morning and welcome back to the VIP Seat. This week the FAA ends single-pilot exemptions for legacy Citations with one day of notice, the agency proposes a $260,868 penalty against charter operator ExcelAire, a third lawsuit lands against OneFlight International, the FAA issues a record number of new mechanic certificates, pilots may finally get relief from a decades-old oxygen mask rule, and the Pilatus PC-12 PRO picks up Garmin Emergency Autoland. Sit back, buckle up, and let's take off.

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The Scoop: The FAA is rescinding the exemptions that let one pilot fly certain legacy Cessna Citations that are type certificated for two, citing safety concerns and a review that found widespread noncompliance, according to AIN. The policy notice (Docket FAA-2026-12343) was scheduled for Federal Register publication on September 28 and takes effect September 29, per AeroCorner. It covers the transport category CE-500 models: the Citation and Citation I, Citation II, Citation S/II, Bravo, Citation V, Ultra, and Encore and Encore+. The CE-510 Mustang and the CE-525 CitationJet family, including the M2 and CJ line, were certified for a single pilot and are unaffected. AeroTime reported that roughly 1,250 U.S.-registered Citations fall under the policy. The FAA said it began a compliance review in 2024 after learning that training providers without an exemption were training under another company's, and that 13 of 14 Part 61 exemption holders were either denied an extension or had the exemption rescinded. An 18-year review cited by the agency found that Part 25 Citations flown single-pilot had roughly twice the accident rate of Part 23 Citations flown solo. The FAA also pointed to two fatal accidents, in San Diego in May 2025 and Statesville, North Carolina, in December 2025. The NTSB has not determined a probable cause in either. NBAA and Citation Jet Pilots (CJP) questioned the immediate effective date and the lack of direct notice to operators, and CJP said it has filed Freedom of Information Act requests for the underlying data.

Our Take: This is a tale of many sides. A lot of owners who bought these airplanes precisely because they could fly them solo woke up to a very different aircraft. Meanwhile, every contract pilot with a CE-500 type and an open calendar just got a lot more popular.

Exemptions exist when you can show an equivalent level of safety, and the FAA is now saying, with its own data, that this one does not meet it - of particular concern is the that the pilot of the San Diego accident was checked by a Part 61 exemption holder (most of whom’s exemptions were pulled in 2024).

One question Preston raised on the show, is that based on the NTSB's preliminary report, the Statesville pilot's type rating carried a second-in-command-required limitation, so he was not flying under an exemption at all. If that is right, citing that accident here feels like a stretch. Jessie's answer is that the link may be indirect: the 2024 review suggested a culture around these type certificates where "technically allowed single-pilot" drifted into "fine to fly single-pilot," and the FAA has decided the exemption is not doing what it was intended to do.

Where we agree is on the rollout. One day of notice is abrupt, and asking the FAA to show its work feels reasonable. We are not sure it changes the outcome, though. The FAA's job is safety, not the viability of an owner-flown airplane.

The economics are where this bites. Rough estimate, typed contract day rates run somewhere between $1,000 and $1,800, and that pool just got a lot busier. Two pilots on an out-and-back doubles your crew cost, then come the sit days and the second hotel room. Many owners may decide they need to go shopping. What we are watching: how this shows up in values for legacy Citations, and whether the FOIA requests turn up anything that moves the FAA.

Read More: AIN

The Scoop: On September 22, the FAA proposed a $260,868 civil penalty against ExcelAire, LLC, of New York and Georgia, alleging unauthorized charter operations, according to Private Jet Card Comparisons and AeroCorner. The agency alleges ExcelAire conducted two for-hire flights in August 2025, after the company’s director of operations surrendered its air carrier certificate to the FAA in June 2025, when the director and the company’s other required management personnel resigned. The FAA also alleges the company still lacks the qualified management personnel required to ensure the safety of its operations, and characterized the flights as careless or reckless. ExcelAire has 30 days from receiving the notice to respond. In September 2025, while facing separate lawsuits from charter brokers and an aircraft lessor, the company told Private Jet Card Comparisons that it continued to operate in full compliance with Part 135 and maintained all required Part 119 management positions. The penalty is a proposal, not a finding, and no ExcelAire response specific to this notice had been reported at the time of the coverage.

ExcelAire President Marcos Bell previously worked at Empyreal Jet and his father, Antony Bell is identified in the reporting as an ExcelAire pilot. Antony Bell was named with Empyreal Jet in a 2021 Dallas Capital Bank contract case that was dismissed for want of prosecution. Separately, the FAA proposed a $175,000 civil penalty against Empyreal in 2024, alleging unairworthy Hawker 800 operations following improper maintenance. The Dallas Capital Bank case also named Elsa Bell as a defendant. Elsa Bell publicly identifies herself as a business owner at Empyreal Jet, and separate business-profile listings identify her as the owner of Air America Jet Charters in Houston.

Our Take: this story is a good case study in how hard it can be to know who you are actually flying with.

If you knew the ExcelAire name years ago, do not assume the brand today necessarily reflects the same personnel, entity structure, or operating history. A certificated operator can retain operating authority through some ownership changes when the legal certificate holder remains intact and FAA requirements are met. That can make the business behind a familiar charter brand difficult for customers to trace.

As for scale, the FAA's case concerns two flights, not hundreds. That does not make the allegations small, since the core issue is flying passengers without the accountable people the rules require. It does mean the bigger lesson is for fliers, and it is the theme of this whole newsletter. A good broker is worth their weight in gold, because they vet operators.

Jessie's due diligence tip: before you sign with anyone you do not know, run a PACER search on the company and the people behind it. One lawsuit does not mean anything is wrong. Several, across multiple parties and locations, starts to tell a story. The Private Aviation Safety Alliance (shameless plug), which Jessie founded, also tracks certificate and management personnel changes.

Read More: Private Jet Card Comparisons

The Scoop: A Florida couple who paid $745,000 to OneFlight International this year for prepaid flight deposits and membership charges have become the third known plaintiffs to sue the jet card broker, according to Private Jet Card Comparisons. Per the filing as reported, the payments came in three transfers in January, February and June 2026, and the couple currently holds about 326.5 hours in flight credits, including bonus hours. The suit also names the company's chief executive and alleges the June deposit was solicited and accepted when the company knew or recklessly disregarded that it was in severe financial distress. It follows a suit filed in federal court in Colorado alleging conduct “consistent with a Ponzi scheme,” and a second suit by an Illinois audiovisual company seeking $223,078, which alleges the company's sales staff solicited another $250,000 deposit days before operations paused. OneFlight paused all flight activity on September 16 for 30 days or until further notice. Private Jet Card Comparisons has estimated, based on sales volume, that more than $150 million in prepaid flights could be at stake, and noted that in a bankruptcy, customers with prepaid flights are unsecured creditors. None of the claims have been adjudicated.

Our Take: Same disclosure as our earlier coverage. We are commenting on reported allegations and other’s reporting. But, the story is now getting national attention.

What jumps out to Jessie is how often customers who already had large balances on account kept sending more. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Something else that was interesting, is customers asking whether the company was solvent and being pointed to its sponsorships. Being great at advertising is not the same thing as being financially sound, and plenty of heavy advertisers have gone out of business.

Jet cards are not bad, and most providers are not bad actors. But prepaid money is exactly where things tend to go wrong in this industry, and it has happened before. Ask for financials, or at least a statement from an accountant. If you can get one and see solvency, then good.

Here’s another important conversation. Escrow is standard in Part 380 public charter and in aircraft transactions, but it essentially does not exist for Part 135 jet cards. Some providers have offered it and few customers took them up on it. One idea floated to us is a surety bond or similar instrument to backstop prepaid funds, and he thinks it only works if the industry commits to it together rather than one provider at a time. Honest brokers are what lift everyone, and without them, consumers get frustrated and regulators could start to take notice. Every one of these stories pushes more buyers away from private aviation or into alternatives like fractional.

Read More: Private Jet Card Comparisons

The Scoop: The FAA issued a record 11,103 new mechanic certificates in 2025, up 23.2% from 2024 and the highest annual total since the agency began publishing the data, according to AVweb, citing the Pipeline Report from the Aviation Technician Education Council and Oliver Wyman. Aviation maintenance technician schools accounted for 7,496 of the new mechanics, a 27% increase and another annual record, and enrollment at FAA-certificated maintenance schools rose 13.5% to 27,740 students. The civilian-experience pathway, which includes apprenticeships, grew 21%, and certifications based on military experience rose 5% to 1,375. Even so, Oliver Wyman projects a North American shortage of about 9,100 certificated mechanics this year, growing to roughly 20,000 by 2030. The report found that 44% of certificated mechanics are over age 60, with more than 39,000 retirements expected over the next decade, and that only 62% of available A&P program seats were filled.

Our Take: Finally, some good news. We have spent a lot of airtime on the mechanic shortage, but this is good news!

If only 62% of program seats are filled, the existing schools have room for a lot more students. The message is getting out that aircraft maintenance is a well-paid, technical career, and it is one AI is not taking anytime soon. Frankly, AI is more likely to replace two podcasters than an A&P. But the retirement wave is coming regardless, so the industry has to keep banging the drum.

Jessie has a pitch to the women reading this. Women still make up only a small fraction of certificated mechanics, and this does not have to mean being a grease monkey. Avionics work is technical, interesting and in demand. The pay and benefits are strong, and if you are wondering what to do in aviation, be a mechanic.

Read More: AVweb

The Scoop: The FAA has proposed relaxing oxygen mask requirements for pilots of pressurized aircraft under Parts 91 and 135, according to AVweb. Under current Part 91 rules, one pilot generally must wear and use an oxygen mask above FL350, although two-pilot crews with quick-donning masks are exempt through FL410. Under the proposal, aircraft equipped with quick-donning masks could operate at any altitude for which they are certificated without a pilot continuously wearing one. For Part 135, the threshold for continuous mask use would rise from FL350 to FL410 for multi-pilot operations and from FL250 to FL350 for single-pilot operations. The changes respond to a requirement in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. The FAA estimates oxygen servicing costs between $100 and $400 per fill and projects savings of $4.7 million to $18.6 million annually for every 1% of the roughly 4.7 million yearly Part 91 and 135 turbojet and multiengine turboprop operations that avoid a servicing event. Comments are due November 23.

Our Take: NBAA, AOPA and others have been pushing on this for a long time. The rule dates back decades, and it is widely understood in the industry that it is not consistently followed in practice. Industry groups argue that decompressions are rare and that quick-donning masks give a pilot the time needed to get on oxygen. The FAA appears to agree.

Our favorite part is the cost-benefit analysis. We suspect s that if you compared the oxygen actually consumed against the hours flown above FL350, the two numbers would not come close to matching. Which makes those projected refill savings a little funny, since not many people may not have been refilling in the first place…

Read More: AVweb

The Scoop: Pilatus announced on September 24 that Garmin Emergency Autoland, which it markets as Safety Autoland, is now certified on the PC-12 PRO by both the FAA and EASA, according to FLYING. The PC-12 PRO, unveiled in March 2025, is the first member of the PC-12 family to carry the system and the first aircraft certified with Garmin's G3000 PRIME flight deck, which also brings features including Emergency Descent Mode and autothrottle. Autoland can take control of the aircraft, communicate with air traffic control and land at a suitable airport.

Our Take: This is a trend, and it is accelerating. Anyone who can get their aircraft certified for Autoland is doing it, and the list keeps growing across light jets and turboprops. HondaJet is working toward it on the Echelon, which we covered in last week's issue.

Nearly every airplane on the list is single-pilot eligible, which is where the system matters most, especially in a week dominated by single-pilot news. In the King Air event that successfully deployed autoland, a depressurization would likely have affected two pilots just as it affected one, which is exactly the scenario Autoland is built for. If it can save lives, it should be in everything.

Then there is the money. The PC-12 already holds its value remarkably well, and new PC-12 PRO delivery positions are already years out and trading at a premium. Autoland probably just made that worse. You may have to sell a kidney. But how much does this shift the negotiating calculus with Garmin, and what happens to a manufacturer building its own avionics when a competitor has Garmin and Autoland and it does not? Congratulations to every PC-12 PRO slot holder who somehow just made money.

Read More: FLYING

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Which One of Us Is It?

Jessie's favorite clip of the week: two pilots in the cockpit, side-eyeing each other, each wondering which one of them is the furry. The timing was no accident. Senator Tommy Tuberville used a Senate floor speech last week to claim that many airline pilots, flight attendants and air traffic controllers are part of the furry community. We will let Urban Dictionary handle the definition. Our only contribution is a rule Preston has used at past companies: before a room full of people from one generation weighs in on something, call someone younger and make sure you know what you are talking about.

It Feels Like Flying Private

Preston's pick was a traveler strutting off the airplane onto the ramp with a full hair flip, announcing that it is not flying private, but it feels like flying private. At least he called it what it is. Our rule of thumb: departing from an FBO does not mean you are flying private. If the airplane will leave without you, you are not flying private. Points for the swagger, though.

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Jessie's Links:
Private Aviation Safety Alliance
FlyVizor
LinkedIn

Preston's Links:
Prestige Aircraft Finance
Private Jet Insider (Newsletter)
LinkedIn
X (Formerly Known as Twitter)
FastJets

Disclaimer: The VIP Seat Weekly is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Coverage of publicly traded companies reflects the personal opinions of the hosts and does not constitute investment, financial, tax, or legal advice, nor a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. Descriptions of legal proceedings, regulatory matters, enforcement actions and unresolved business situations reflect published reports and public records, and are not findings of fact by The VIP Seat, its hosts, or any company named. Proposed FAA civil penalties are allegations, not final determinations. Nothing here is legal, employment, or flight operations advice for any particular situation. Jessie Naor is the founder of the Private Aviation Safety Alliance, which is referenced in this issue. The hosts are not registered investment advisors and may hold positions in companies discussed. All investments carry risk. Readers should conduct their own research and consult a qualified financial professional before making any investment decision.