The Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) is the most critical license that an airline needs to run and sell tickets for passenger flights.
To receive the AOC, a carrier needs to prove that it has planes, staff, safety systems and financial resources to both launch and stay operational in the near future. While AOCs are most commonly revoked due to either a financial collapse or a failed safety audit, in some cases a license is revoked when an airline is suspected of fraud or operational mismanagement.
Austrian charter airline Mali Air was one of the latest carriers to lose its AOC in February 2026; the airline launched in 1994 advertised both charter flights and loosely-defined services such as aircraft management and “complete air logistics services of all cargo and restricted dangerous goods.”
“Starflite used unqualified pilots for at least 170 flights”
At the end of February, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an emergency order revoking the AOC of Houston-based airline Starflite Aviation on suspicion that it ”knowingly falsified pilot training records” to hire pilots not authorized to fly its routes.
“The FAA alleges that between November 2019 and November 2024, the management personnel made numerous false entries in the training records of at least 10 pilots, including the chief pilot,” the FAA statement reads. “The fraudulent entries showed that check rides and competency checks were performed in various aircraft when those actions never occurred. As a result, StarFlite used unqualified pilots for at least 170 flights.”
Related: Another airline shuts down after losing license, all flights canceled
The revoked Part 135 air carrier certificate is the equivalent of the AOC for carriers that run charter or commuter services on aircraft with 30 passengers or less. The airline’s last recorded fleet included 10 jets including Cessna Citation IIIs, a Larjet 45 and a Gulfstream GIV-SP among others.
According to the FAA’s allegation, Starflite Aviation did not have enough qualified personnel to run the flights it sold to its passengers and falsified documents to show that it ran safety check rides that never occurred.
Starflite Aviation
“A disregard for the safety of the flying public”: FAA
The regulator classified this as conduct that endangered any passengers who booked flights and “demonstrates a disregard for the safety of the flying public.”
Regional airlines that recently filed for bankruptcy:
- Spirit Airlines (Spirit Aviation Holdings, Inc.): Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time on August 29,2025.
- Ravn Alaska: Ceased operations in August 2025 after earlier Chapter 11 proceedings; shut down flights and folded into other operations such as New Pacific.
- Corporate Air: Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (restructuring) in September 2025 as part of a planned sale, according to Bondoro.
- Play Airlines: The Reykjavik-based airline shut down operations and entered involuntary bankruptcy in September 2025.
- Braathens Airlines:The airline was forced to file for bankruptcy and canceled all of its flights in September2025.
The Starflite Aviation website is currently down, with some pages telling visitors that “the site is under construction.” A representative could also not be reached for comment as news of the revoked license broke.
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“Recognized as one of the premier names in custom aircraft charters, StarFlite offers the height of excellence throughout the world for customized air travel,” the company’s description of its online services previously read.
