Professional Pilot, October 2017

passengers and crew have appropriate travel documents and visas provide notification for customs immigration clearance stateside and obtain a TSA waiver if required Charter ops also need a customs bond MCL on file with TSA Permits to Proceed for each domestic flight leg within the US will need to comply with departure customs clearance procedures If your aircraft is registered to a sanctioned or special interest country including B registered aircraft from China youll also need special FAA routing authority for travel within US airspace This can be organized online 24 7 via the FAA website Provide as much lead time as possible for FAA routing authority if your aircraft is registered to a special interest country as routings may occasionally be denied cautions ITPS COO Phil Linebaugh Special routing authority applies to all travel within US airspace You must use approved routings as long as youre within US airspace TSA waiver requirements have eased As of January 2016 TSA waiver mandates changed to the operational benefit of most GA operators Previously most foreign registered GA aircraft required TSA waivers to fly within the US but now these are only needed if your aircraft weights over 100309 lbs MTOW This rule change does away with most former TSA waiver requirements and makes it easier for foreign registered operators to plan trips to the US confirms ITPS Ops Mgr Ben Fuller Today 70 PROFESSIONAL PILOT October 2017 foreign registered aircraft under 100309 lbs MTOW do not usually require TSA waivers when operating within the US Also foreign aircraft weighing less than 100309 lbs MTOW registered to portal countries do not require waivers to overfly the US ISPs say that the lead time to obtain a TSA waiver for US overflight or landing is about 90 days This waiver covers your entire fleet Waivers are not itinerary specific and you may list as many aircraft and airports as you wish While operators should provide passengers and crew names with their TSA waiver request only flightcrew members will be listed on the waiver approval Visa considerations Note that the US differs from most other countries in that all passengers and crew must have required visas and are processed by customs immigration on any landing in country even for international tech stops Be aware that there are no visa free options for crew other than Canadian citizens or Green Card holders and they must have the appropriate type of visa Crew may enter the US on private foreign registered aircraft with a B1 or B2 visa However if youre flying a charter you need to have a C type crew visa says Muniz If you arrive as a charter without crew visas you may face penalties But its not a problem the other way around arriving on a private flight with crew visas Electronic System for Travel Authorization ESTAs are only accepted if the aircraft the passenger is arriving on is a signatory carrier under TSAs Visa Waiver Program VWP If the aircraft is not registered under the VWP all foreign nationals with exception of Canadians and Green Card holders must possess visas says Jeppesen ITP Account Specialist Jean Michel Sicaud Muniz points out that ESTAs are officially only accepted if youre traveling to the US aboard a charter aircraft thats a signatory carrier Its always been the case according to DHS that ESTAs may only be used by charter carriers under VWP rules This is a case where the regulations have not changed just the enforcement While there are still some airports that allow private aircraft VWP benefits this is not technically allowable remarks Muniz ITPS Sr Ops Mgr John Wells recommends becoming a VWP signatory carrier to many of his clients If youre bringing foreign national passengers or crew with you to the US on a regular basis participating in the VWP makes sense Without being a VWP signatory carrier its not as easy to bring foreign nationals back with you from a meeting in Paris And if youve had to pick up German or Italian national contract crew or flight attendants for example they would not be able to enter the US otherwise without a full visa VWP participation improves flexibility of global business movements Permits to Proceed Having Permits to Proceed is a regulatory requirement that still trips up foreign registered operators from time to time When a foreign registered charter flight arrives in the US a Permit to Proceed must be obtained in order to travel from one domestic airport to another Its almost like obtaining an outbound clearance says Muniz Youll send your crew passenger manifest to the port youre departing and theyll look at the passengers to confirm no new passengers have been picked before approving your Permit to Proceed The arriving airport then needs to see a copy of this to ensure that passengers with whom you arrive at the port are the same as those wholl be flying out If you pick up additional passengers in the US they must leave the US onboard the aircraft When requesting a Permit to Proceed we recommend providing a couple of hours lead time so the port can verify the information adds Muniz We find its often the Permit to Proceed requirement that tends to trip up most foreign registered charter operators to the US What comes next when I land my foreign registered aircraft in the US may ponder this bizjet passenger In most cases non US registered aircraft may operate fairly freely stateside