Air taxi management system: what to evaluate before choosing

Whoever holds a COA answers for obligations spread across several regulations: the logbook of Resolution 773, the records of RBAC 135 (Brazil's equivalent of FAR Part 135), the duty time of RBAC 117 and of the Aeronaut Law, the SMS (SGSO), the manuals approved or accepted in the certification process. Each of them calls for evidence, and each piece of evidence usually lives in a different place: folder, spreadsheet, book, email.

An air taxi management system serves to bring that evidence together without typing the same thing twice. This guide is the checklist of what to evaluate. It applies to any vendor, including ours.

The criterion that separates systems

Before looking at screens, one question settles half the evaluation: is the flight the source data?

In a system built for aviation, the flight logged by the pilot is the same data that moves airframe and component hours in maintenance tracking, counts toward the crewmember's duty time, goes into the aircraft's cost and shows up in the monthly report. In a generic system, each area has its own copy, and someone has to reconcile the copies.

The second question is about size: does the system fit your operation today? The Simple Operator, with one aircraft and up to five pilots, does not need the same structure as an operator with a fleet and bases in several cities, and ANAC itself recognizes this in IS 119-004 rev. M.

The checklist, area by area

Logbook

• ANAC-accepted system. Digital means are permitted by Resolution 773/2025 (art. 3), but their use depends on a request to the agency (art. 4) and on a system that meets Resolution 458/2017. In air taxi, the authorization of your operation is recorded in the operations specifications.
• Operator signature with a controlled deadline. In digital means, after the captain signs, the operator signs within 15 days under RBAC 135 (Resolution 773, art. 10). Ask how the system shows what is coming due.
• Correction without erasing. The original record must remain legible, with the correction traceable (art. 3). Ask to see a correction in the demo.
• Working on the ramp. The pilot logs where the internet does not always reach. Ask what happens without signal.

The detail of the rule is on the electronic logbook page.

Maintenance and airworthiness

• Hours counted down with every flight, for airframe, engines, propellers and components, with the projection of the next due date.
• Airworthiness directives, inspections and life-limited items with current status. For aircraft with 10 or more seats, 135.439 requires keeping these records permanently and transferring them with the aircraft when it is sold (135.411 defines which aircraft fall under the section).
• Technical discrepancy with corrective action, linked to the flight on which it was reported, and MEL items when the operation has an approved list.

Crew, duty time and training

• Duty and rest. RBAC 117 reaches air taxi operators certificated under RBAC 135 (117.1(b)(2)) and requires keeping the roster actually worked, duty hours and flight hours for at least five years (117.19(e)). Law No. 13.475/2017 completes the picture; the article on duty and rostering in air taxi details the limits.
• Individual record of each pilot, kept for at least five years (135.63).
• Due dates for CMA, ratings and training flagged before they become an impediment, not discovered at rostering time.

SMS

135.29 requires an SMS (SGSO) on the structure of Subpart M, proportional to the size of the operation. The exception is the Simple Operator: IS 119-004 rev. M exempts it from the formal SMS and the MGSO and asks that the Statement of Compliance describe how it identifies hazards, assesses risks, monitors and promotes safety. In both cases, the system needs to record reports, risks, actions and the verification that the actions worked. The article SMS in practice shows what is expected of each component.

COA documents

The certification manuals and programs have revisions, and each revision has a status at ANAC. A good system shows which revision is in force and separates an accepted document from an approved one, because they are not the same thing. The road to these documents is in how to start an air taxi company.

Reports to ANAC

135.417 calls for the monthly summary report of flight interruptions and propeller feathering, within the first 10 business days of each month. Ask whether the system builds this report from the flights and discrepancies already recorded.

Commercial, scheduling and costs

• Flight proposal and quote from the customer's request.
• Fleet scheduling with notification to crew and passengers.
• Expenses by flight and by aircraft, with cost center, to know the real cost of the hour flown.
• Issuing service invoices, if the company wants it.

Access and audit trail

Each person with their own login and their own role, and the system answering who entered it, when and what changed. A shared login supports neither a signature nor an audit.

The questions to ask in the demo

1. Log a flight and show me where the hours appeared in maintenance tracking.
2. Correct that flight. Where is the original record?
3. What can the pilot do on the phone without internet?
4. Which flights have the operator signature close to the deadline?
5. Roster a crewmember with an expired CMA. What happens?
6. Where do I see the current revision of the MGO and its status at ANAC?
7. How is the monthly 135.417 report produced?
8. If I leave the system, how do I take my data?

A vendor that answers by showing the screen, with data from a real operation, tends to be more reliable than one that answers with slides.

Warning signs

• The flight has to be typed again on another screen to reach maintenance.
• Correcting a record erases the previous one.
• The parallel spreadsheet is still needed after implementation.
• The SMS is a file repository, without reports, risk and action.
• The digital logbook has no clear answer about acceptance by ANAC.

Where Alis fits in

The Alis air taxi module was built on this criterion: the flight is the source data. What it brings together:

• ANAC-accepted electronic logbook, with traceable correction, the operator signature deadline counted and flagged, and an app that logs the flight and generates the logbook PDF without internet.
• Maintenance tracking counted down with every flight, with components, limits and directives, and a TLB with corrective action and MEL item.
• Rostering and scheduling with a crewmember-impeded warning: expired CMA or rating, expired training, 30-day hour limit, rest between duty periods and night recent experience.
• SMS with reports, risk matrix, emergency response plan, inspections, changes, indicators and training, included in all plans.
• COA documents with current revision and status at ANAC, flight proposal, expenses by cost center and Flight Kit with weather, NOTAM and risk assessment.

Plans start with Simple, sized for one aircraft. See the full module on the air taxi page.

This article is for informational purposes and was written based on ANAC Resolution No. 773/2025, ANAC Resolution No. 458/2017, RBAC 117 (Amendment No. 01) and 135 (Amendment No. 15) and IS 119-004 revision M, as published and read in November 2026. It does not replace consulting the regulations, your company's operations specifications or the guidance of the technical and operational manager.