Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

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A move by the FAA to revise Part 380 public charter flight rules, as requested by airlines and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), is not justified, could cut services to small communities, and could serve as a barrier to new entrants, a coalition of seven aviation groups warned the agency.
Those warnings were a response to an FAA notice of intent (NOI) released in August, saying the agency was considering a rulemaking to alter the regulatory definitions of “on-demand operation,” “supplemental operation,” and “scheduled operation” under 14 CFR Part 110. The agency said these changes would address “the exception from FAA’s domestic, flag, and supplemental operations regulations for public charter operators.” Such a rulemaking, the FAA added, would push some operators under Part 135 to Part 121.
The NOI comes as certain airlines and ALPA have complained of unfair competition and the use of Part 380 as a “loophole” to skirt the safety requirements of Part 121. Currently, approved Part 135 operations can provide public charter services under the provisions of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Part 380 economic authority.
In comments to the NOI, the seven aviation organizations—many representing the business and general aviation community—said: “Changes to regulatory definitions could have unintended negative consequences throughout the entire Part 135 community—an established industry segment providing safe and secure transportation options that meet the diverse needs of thousands of communities across the nation.”
They further noted that such changes would be made against the backdrop of &nbsp;“an industry where four major airlines control more than 80 percent of the domestic market,” and said, “Part 380 provides much-needed competition in a highly concentrated marketplace, often ensuring secondary markets and small communities continue to have options for meeting the air transportation needs of their citizens.”
Part 135 carriers have operated public charter operations safely for more than 45 years, reaching communities that otherwise would not have commercial service, they maintained. “Any changes to the regulation should be driven not by the economic interest of competitors, but by an identified safety need,” the organizations added. “Indeed, we are unaware of any accident or serious incident involving an operation under Part 135 using the economic authority granted under Part 380 and involving a jet airplane. No accidents. No incidents.”
The organizations also said they fear that such changes could eliminate jobs, as well as hurt competition, carbon emissions reduction, emerging technologies, and innovation.
They noted one of the single biggest differences in the regulations used by Part 121 is the ATP requirement but said,&nbsp;“If the FAA ultimately chooses to ignore the lack of valid safety concerns and promulgate rulemaking to placate the vocal minority of commercially motivated stakeholders, a requirement for all flight crewmembers conducting Part 380 public charter operations to hold type ratings, when available, would close any regulatory gap while minimizing harm to small communities, innovative business models, and competition in general."
But the organizations also agreed that any such changes should be explored through an aviation rulemaking committee, noting that any preemptive rulemaking could go against the wishes of Congress surrounding small community service.
Signing the comments were the Airline Passenger Experience Association, General Aviation Manufacturers Association, Helicopter Association International, International Flight Services Association, National Air Transportation Association, National Association of State Aviation Officials, and National Business Aviation Association.

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