From idea to fruition: Part 135 Certification timeline

Bottom line: Buy a Part 135 Certificate if you don't have time to wait, apply via the normal FAA channels if you do have time to wait. It's a 3.5-4+ Year process. If you only have a short time to read, skip to the timeline and read the few paragraphs after that.

Usually this journey starts with an idea. That's where it started with me. After flying my Super Cub in Alaska, I thought: "What if I can use these skills I've learned to make a little extra money and show other people the great Wilderness that is Alaska." How cool would it be to get paid to show people Alaska, fly sheep and moose hunters, drop fishermen off at remote spots, drop hikers and campers into remote limited access areas, the list goes on. So, with that, on some random Spring day in Alaska I decided I'll give it a shot.

I remember getting home from a day in the cub and immediately doing research on how to become a Part 135 operator. It started with a google search and eventually led me down a rabbit hole of the process, the phases, costs, etc. Turns out its "FREE" to apply and receive a Part 135 Certificate.

You can apply via a PASI (Pre-application statement of intent), your name gets put onto a list, you get called up to go "IN PROGRESS", and then the process starts....YEARS LATER. Then sometime down the road you complete what I'll call the "ADMIN Phase" (really known as Phase 2), then you pretty much do Phase 3, 4, and 5 somewhat in parallel, that's the "HOMESTRETCH" phase, really the performance phase. Then you get a Part 135 certificate and after a checkride you're all set.

Here's the timeline:

• May 2021: Submitted PASI

  • Even talked to the local FSDO who were super helpful, even provided me some templates and info via sending me a flash drive in the Mail

• May 2021 - September 2023: Waiting....

  • AIMLESSLY trying to get ahead via writing the Compliance Statement, company documents, etc. using the templates sent to me by a super helpful FSDO employee

• September 2023: Received In-Progress notification

  • So I thought we would start work right away...

• September 2023 - March 2024: Waiting....

• March 2024: FAA Pre-application Meeting

  • This was probably the most worthless meeting I've ever attended (seriously) aside from finally getting questions answered, many of which they couldn't answer. I had done enough research to know the phases and way forward.

  • There was no clear way forward after this meeting and ZERO guidance on how to effectively get through the process while pleasing the FAA with the documents I needed to generate.

• August 2024: Compliance Statement complete (360 Pages later)

  • ....more on that in a different article

• September 2024: Compliance Statement approved and Hazmat: Will-Carry Manual approved

  • This was a HUGE hurdle to get past after a year of meetings and work on the various documents

• October 2024: Compliance Statement pulled back

  • More edits needed from an entirely different team

• November 2024: Compliance Statement approved

  • But for real this time

• November 2024 - 5 January 2025: Waiting.....

  • Local FSDO is busy and can't find a team of inspectors to complete the performance Phase

• 6 January 2025: Conformity Inspection complete, site visit complete

• 7 January 2025: Part 135 Certificate issued, Op Specs issued

  • Boom! done!

• 12 Feburary 2025: Part 135 Checkride Complete

  • Cleared to operate.

3 Years, 8 Months, 19 days after the PASI was sent in, we finally had our cert. That's 1360 Days.

1036 days of that were spent waiting....that's 2 Years and 10 Months

That makes roughly 324 days of actual "working" time. I say working lightly because, in most cases, you're waiting on the FAA to get back to you on Version XX of your Compliance Statement or various other manuals or company documents.

Additionally, would you believe that the FAA inspectors and Cert team I worked with along the way said, and I quote exactly what they said to me: "This is the fastest certification we've gotten through in a very long time." I immediately thought "Are you kidding me?" Over a year since in-progress, and that's QUICK? Wild.

All that to say: This Part 135 journey is a PROCESS. You must be prepared for frustration, waiting, incomplete information, borderline incompetence (mostly due to the workload on FAA employees, I believe.), and lots and lots of time spent working on your documents. That's where I want to help.

Time is precious and my documents and guidance can save you a lot of time. You likely are busy, just like I was, maybe with other business ventures, your full-time job, a wife, kid, dog, hobbies (mainly flying), home projects....the list goes on.

I did explore hiring a consultant to work the documents and with the FAA to get me to the finish line. But after getting quotes from multiple companies, I decided on principle that I would not spend $8-10k for someone to do the work I was perfectly capable of doing. Was it worth it? Maybe. I think you have to decide if that $ is worth your time.

As a side note, I heard many anecdotes from the certification team that there have been a fairly large amount of terminated certificates during the process that were augmented by these so-called "consulting" companies. I was actually glad to hear that, since I knew they probably wouldn't say something like that if I was also in danger of getting terminated.

Having been through the process and having worked for the government for years, I understand the inefficiencies and also understand what gov't agencies need, how they speak, what's important to them, etc.

My goal once the admin phase was done was to find a way to help others in my same position from back in 2021 accomplish this journey with far less pain. With full transparency, I think the documents should be boiler plate from the FAA and shouldn't require you to start from scratch, but the FAA won't do that. So that's where I can help.

I have the documents and can ensure your specific Part 135 Operation is encompassed within those admin documents to get to the finish line.

If you made it to the end, congrats. There's a lot more where that came from. I'll expound on my solutions to being fully prepared when your "name is called" in a future blog, but until then, please contact us via arrowcertsolutions@gmail.com if you need assistance with any Part 135 certification questions. We're happy to provide a free consultation call at any time.

Blue skies,

Ryan, Owner of Arrow Cert

arrowcertsolutions@gmail.com