We are pleased to announce today a new partnership between Kelstar Aviation and Total Pilot Solutions. Two great Dublin based companies coming together to offer the perfect blend of safety, operational experience, regulatory compliance, and customer service to clients in the Aircraft Delivery Services arena.
Kelstar Aviation is a flight operations support and training company with a wealth of knowledge and experience in quality assurance, safety management, technical oversight and regulatory compliance. Kelstar Aviation has an existing customer base including leasing companies, banks and airlines and has been building a solid structure and suite of EASA compliant solutions for the ferry flight industry.
Total Pilot Solutions is a crewing agency with extensive experience in cockpit and technical recruitment. TPS staff have been managing aircraft delivery projects for almost a decade including crewing, fuel provision, ground handling, permits, flight planning and everything else required for successful ferry flights. TPS has been very active with ferry flight support and aircraft deliveries in the past 12 months and an ever growing client list including leasing companies, CAMOs, OEMs and airlines.
This partnership sees the experience and transitions knowledge of Total Pilot Solutions married to the management systems and operational expertise of Kelstar Aviation resulting in a best in class service for all clients, operating exclusively under the Kelstar Aviation Part NCC and Part SPO-MCF products.
Steve Kelly, MD Kelstar Aviation said: “The industry is growing with an increasing trend towards regulatory oversight. We see some authorities such as Austria and Norway already requiring Part NCC compliance for private operations including ferry flights and there is a gap in the market for a provider that has a different approach. We know that other authorities are already making preparations for Part NCC requirements to be observed. The Total Pilot Solutions team supported our recent Part SPO-MCF application (Maintenance Check Flight approval) and at a management level we have a long standing relationship reaching back over more than 8 years. It makes sense to combine our extensive experience and create a rock solid offering for anyone with ferry flight or demonstration flight requirements.”
Jen Fleming, MD Total Pilot Solutions said: “We’ve been very impressed with the approach that the guys at Kelstar have taken over the past year in raising the standards and service levels within the ferry flight field. Really things started to get serious when the Kelstar team successfully submitted their Part NCC manuals and processes to the Irish Aviation Authority last October. We’ve been cooperating for several months now, but formalising this partnership means that an even more robust and reliable ferry flight offering is available to our customers. Having moved hundreds of aircraft over the past decade myself I’m personally excited to continue working with Steve, Ray, Declan and the full team at Kelstar to expand our horizons together.”
For project requisitions / to request a quotation for your next ferry flight requirement please email ops@kelstaraviation.com
Today Kelstar Aviation achieved EASA Part SPO-MCF approved status for the operation and management of Maintenance Check Flights. A huge amount of work has gone on behind the scenes in recent weeks and months to develop an approved MCF Manual, MCF Training Programme and all required checklists and protocols.
Kelstar Aviation MD Steve Kelly said “We are delighted to add this approval to our service offering; it enables us to operate Level A and Level B maintenance check flights for airlines, leasing companies or CAMOs with such requirements. We are proud to be one of the only ferry flight operators in Europe now with a compliant approach to demonstration flights”.
The regulations changed in 2019 requiring all operators to adhere to MCF standards for flights carried out to provide reassurance of the aircraft’s performance or to establish the correct functioning of a system or equipment. In order to conduct MCFs, an operator of Complex Motor-powered aircraft is required to comply with the requirements of Annex VIII of EASA Ops – Specialised Operations [Part SPO].
With this new Part SPO-MCF approval, Kelstar Aviation can also act in lieu of an existing operator who has not yet attained an MCF approval themselves. This might be required after heavy maintenance, for system checks that can’t be done on the ground or indeed (given the situation over the past 12 months) after an aircraft comes out of storage. MCFs have even been used to keep aircraft from going into storage.
Kelstar Aviation today became one of the first operators of ferry flight services in Europe to make a full declaration to the Irish Aviation Authority in compliance with EU Part NCC regulations. This declaration is accompanied by a suite of bespoke risk management manuals including Emergency Response Plan Manual, Safety Management System Manual, Operations Manual and Management System Manual.
With an experienced team of nominated postholders to complete the requisite organisational requirements Kelstar Aviation is very excited to help raise the standards to which all operators are required to adhere when operating delivery flights, positioning flights for maintenance/repainting, demonstration flights and all other private operations falling under the Part NCC category (Non-Commercial).
Managing Director Steve Kelly said: “We’re thrilled to have reached this milestone in such a short time period – one silver lining of recent challenging times – we’ve been working closely with the Irish Aviation Authority. Our inspector and the NCC team has been really supportive about the Part NCC approach being applied to ferry flights as was originally intended. There are no additional costs on the leasing companies or owners just better oversight. The whole team here at Kelstar has been involved with the process and we’re very proud of the result. We look forward to serving leasing companies, airlines, MROs and private owners who wish to have a compliant, but hassle-free and economical service.”
Steve went on to outline “It’s all about the team at Kelstar Aviation – we will work hand in hand with leasing company project managers providing transparency and availability. Our team has extensive experience in Flight Operations Management at international airlines. Our experience includes nominated person (post holder) roles along with quality assurance, safety management, technical oversight, regulatory compliance and IOSA audit positions. Building on our operational experience both inside and outside the cockpit we deliver reliable, efficient, and responsive solutions.”
Kelstar Aviation also offers Aircraft Management, Training and Consultancy services.