A valid air operator certificate
Issued by the authority of the operator’s own country, current, and covering the aircraft type and the kind of flight you are taking. This is the non-negotiable baseline; nothing else compensates for its absence.
Safety and operators
How to know the aircraft is safe
In short
Who is actually responsible for the safety of a charter flight?
The operator, not the broker. Every charter is flown by a company holding an air operator certificate issued by its national aviation authority, and that certificate is what governs crew training, maintenance and duty limits. Our job is to check the certificate, the insurance and any independent safety audit the operator holds before offering you the aircraft — and to give you the operator’s name in writing so you can check it too.
What we check before you see an option
Insurance that covers you
Third-party and passenger liability at a level appropriate to the aircraft, in force on your dates. We ask for the certificate of insurance, not a claim that one exists.
An independent safety audit
ARGUS, Wyvern or IS-BAO. These sit on top of the regulator, not in place of it — they measure things a certificate does not, like whether safety management actually functions day to day.
Crew experience on the type
Hours on the specific aircraft, not just in aviation. This matters most on demanding fields — short runways, high elevation, difficult approaches — where type familiarity is the difference that counts.
What the three ratings actually mean
They are independent audits, not regulators, and they measure different things. An operator strong on one and absent from another is common and not in itself a warning.
ARGUS
Gold · Gold Plus · PlatinumA US-based audit that scores operators on pilot experience, training records and accident history using data rather than self-reporting. Gold is a historical review. Gold Plus adds an on-site audit. Platinum additionally requires an active safety management system and an emergency response plan. Platinum is the strongest signal in common use.
Wyvern
Registered · WingmanWingman requires an on-site audit and continuous reporting of crew pairing and aircraft data, so the standard has to be maintained between audits rather than met once. Wyvern is the audit most often specified by corporate flight departments with their own aviation staff.
IS-BAO
Stage 1 · 2 · 3An International Business Aviation Council standard focused on whether the operator’s safety management system genuinely functions. Stage 1 confirms it exists, Stage 2 that it is working, Stage 3 that safety management is embedded in how the company is run. It is a process audit rather than a records audit, which makes it complementary to ARGUS.
Because we send you the operator’s legal name and the tail number before payment, you can verify everything independently in a few minutes — and you should, on your first flight with anyone.
The tail number can be looked up on the national aircraft registry of the country it is registered in, which will confirm the type, the age and the registered owner. The operator’s certificate can be confirmed with its national aviation authority, most of which publish a searchable list of certificate holders. ARGUS and Wyvern both maintain lookups for the ratings they issue.
If any broker resists naming the operator before payment, that is the moment to stop. There is no legitimate reason to withhold it, and the request costs an honest broker nothing to satisfy.
The lookups
Where to check, and what each one proves
These are other people’s registries, not ours. Bookmark them before your first charter with anybody — including us.
The audits
Confirms whether an operator holds an ARGUS Gold, Gold Plus or Platinum rating, and when it was last audited. It says nothing about price or availability.
Lists operators that have passed a Wingman audit. An operator absent from it is not necessarily unsafe — plenty of good operators carry ARGUS or IS-BAO instead — but an operator claiming Wingman status should appear here.
The same directory at the higher standard, which adds recurrent crew and aircraft checks.
IBAC publishes the standard and its three stages but does not run a public lookup, so IS-BAO registration is evidenced by the operator’s certificate rather than by a search. Ask for it; a registered operator will send it without hesitating.
The aircraft registers
- FAA N-number inquiry
N — United States
Confirms that a US-registered tail number exists, its make and model, its year and its registered owner. If the aircraft offered to you does not appear, stop.
- UK CAA G-INFO
G — United Kingdom
The United Kingdom civil aircraft register: type, year, registered owner and operator.
- Irish Aviation Authority register
EI — Ireland
The Irish register, which carries a large share of European-based business aircraft.
- Isle of Man Aircraft Registry
M — Isle of Man
A register used almost exclusively by privately owned business aircraft.
- Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands
VP-C — Cayman Islands
Another common register for corporate aircraft, particularly larger types.
These are other people’s services and we do not control them. Every link was opened and confirmed on . If one of them has moved since, tell us and we will fix it — and in the meantime, ask us for the operator’s certificate directly.
Before you pay
What we commit to while you are checking
What we commit to
Nothing is charged before the aircraft is confirmed.
You receive the operating carrier’s legal name, its AOC number and the aircraft registration in writing before any invoice or wallet address is issued. If those three things are not in front of you, you have not been asked to pay yet.
If the operator cancels, you choose the remedy — not us.
Aircraft go technical and operators occasionally fail. When that happens before departure you are offered a replacement aircraft on equivalent terms or a full refund, and the choice between them is yours. We do not get to decide that a substitute was good enough.
These form part of our terms of business. If any of them changes, the change is dated there rather than made quietly here.
Questions
About safety
- How do you check that an operator is safe?
- Every flight is operated by a company holding a valid air operator certificate in its own jurisdiction. We check that certificate and the operator’s insurance cover before offering the aircraft, and any third-party safety audit it holds — ARGUS, Wyvern or IS-BAO. Not every good operator holds one, so we never imply one that has not been verified for that operator. You receive the operator name, and any audit status, before you pay so you can verify it yourself.
- What do ARGUS, Wyvern and IS-BAO actually mean?
- They are independent audits, not regulators. ARGUS grades operators Gold, Gold Plus or Platinum based on pilot experience, accident history and, at the higher tiers, an on-site audit. Wyvern Wingman requires an on-site audit and continuous data reporting. IS-BAO is an IBAC standard focused on the operator’s safety management system, with three progressive stages. None of them replaces the national aviation authority’s certificate — they sit on top of it.
- What is the difference between ARGUS Gold and Platinum?
- ARGUS Gold is a historical review: ARGUS analyses the operator’s pilot experience, aircraft and accident records from data, without visiting. Gold Plus adds an on-site audit. Platinum is the highest tier and also requires a functioning safety management system and an emergency response plan, verified on site. Gold says the record is clean; Platinum says someone has checked how the company actually manages safety day to day.
- Is Wyvern Wingman better than an ARGUS rating?
- Neither is simply better; compare tiers, not brands. Wyvern Wingman and ARGUS Platinum both rest on an on-site audit, and are the two strongest signals in common use. Wingman additionally requires the operator to keep reporting crew and aircraft data between audits. ARGUS Gold, the entry tier, is a desk review of records and is a weaker signal than either. Corporate flight departments often specify Wyvern; ARGUS is more widespread among charter operators.
- Do you operate the aircraft?
- No. Fifteen Jets acts as a broker: we find a suitable aircraft for your trip and arrange the charter, and the selected operating company — named to you in writing, with its Air Operator Certificate — operates the flight and is responsible for it. We do not own or operate aircraft. Our commission is included in the price you are quoted, so there is never a second invoice from us.
- Do I pay before the aircraft is confirmed?
- No. Nothing is charged until the aircraft is confirmed with the operator and you have it in writing: the operating company and its AOC, the aircraft type and year, the registration where available, the operator’s safety audit status where it holds one, and the cancellation terms. You approve the quotation, payment follows, and flight documents arrive within the hour. For crypto payments we wait for one network confirmation on domestic legs and three on international ones.
- Am I talking to a person or a bot?
- A person. One broker handles your request from the first message to wheels-up, in Telegram, by email or through the request form, and you keep the same contact for the next trip. There is no call-centre queue, no automated sequence and no account manager handover.
- What happens to my money if the flight is cancelled?
- If the operator cancels or the aircraft goes technical, you are refunded in full through the same channel you paid, or we place you on a replacement aircraft — your choice. If you cancel, the operator’s cancellation terms apply; those terms are shown to you in writing before you pay, not buried afterwards. Crypto refunds are returned in the same asset at the original invoiced USD value.