NBAA Sees Part 135 Survey as a Catalyst for Change

Sept. 2, 2025

Results from NBAA’s 2025 Part 135 Survey have provided valuable insights into the shifting concerns and priorities for this vital industry sector and are directly informing the development of association initiatives and resources, including targeted sessions at this year’s NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE).

Training emerged as the top priority for the 2025 survey participants, climbing from fourth place in the 2023 survey, with more than half of respondents identifying it as their most pressing challenge. Close behind were concerns over understanding and keeping pace with regulatory requirements, which remain a persistent hurdle for nearly half of all operators, while workforce hiring, retention and pay, and sourcing maintenance parts rounded out the top four concerns.

“The Part 135 Flight Department Survey has become an indispensable tool for NBAA to understand what we can do to help this growing and ever-evolving part of our community. Going forward, we intend to update our survey annually,” said Melanie Hight, co-chair of the Domestic Operations Committee Part 135 Subcommittee.

“Building off our 2023 survey results, we were able to craft more meaningful and probing questions to better understand where Part 135 operators need us to focus,” she added. “The participants, who represent tens of thousands of aviation professionals, responded with an honesty and transparency that is already being used to create practical solutions that will have a meaningful and lasting impact.”

The confidential survey also found that, while 92% of respondents had a safety management system in place, close to 60% are not part of the FAA’s Aviation Safety Action Program and almost a third were unaware of it altogether. Only a small fraction, about 11%, employed a licensed dispatcher.

“This survey’s findings were profound,” said Ben van Niekerk, co-chair of the Domestic Operations Committee Part 135 subcommittee. “The data captured an unprecedented snapshot of the needs of today’s small operators. We now have this great opportunity to continue to build essential resources and educational tools, particularly around regulatory frameworks, operations, training and maintenance, that will make flight operations safer and more efficient.

“We are committed to this pledge of support, as seen with the creation of our Best Practices for Air Charter Brokering Guide, our Part 135.299 Check Pilot Registry and the Airport Runway Obstacle Analysis and FAA Info 23009 Compliance. We are putting more emphasis on training with the creation of a new domestic operations subcommittee, and we have a steady pipeline of resources and initiatives that will be coming very soon,” van Niekerk noted.

These insights have also helped in developing education sessions for NBAA-BACE.

“There is a clear and immediate need to address some critical concerns, which is why we will have back-to-back sessions to help Part 135 operators navigate recent and pending FAA regulatory updates and demystify OpSpecs compliance. These sessions are for new operators and industry veterans alike and will ensure all attendees leave better equipped to operate effectively and confidently,” said van Niekerk.

Taking place Oct. 14-16, NBAA-BACE is the world’s most powerful business aviation event, showcasing the industry’s latest innovations and services and hosting the leaders who are driving business aviation toward a bright and sustainable future. Learn more about NBAA-BACE.