No. In the United States, there is no federal “aircraft broker license,” no exam, and no government-issued credential you need to hold before you can broker an aircraft sale or a charter flight. That surprises most people, because so much else in aviation is licensed.
What actually applies depends which side of the business you work. Air charter brokers follow federal consumer-protection rules under 14 CFR Part 295. Aircraft sales brokers fall under ordinary business law and, in a few states, dealer registration. Neither amounts to a professional license, and no training certificate — including IABI’s — changes that.
Key points
- No US federal agency issues an “aircraft broker license.” The FAA licenses pilots and certifies aircraft and airlines, not brokers.
- Air charter brokers are regulated under 14 CFR Part 295, enforced by the US DOT. It requires disclosures and bans deceptive practices — it does not create a license, exam or registration.
- A charter broker may not act or advertise as if it were the airline. The company actually flying the trip must hold its own DOT and FAA authority.
- Aircraft sales brokers have no FAA licensing requirement. A small number of states require dealer registration, usually tied to sales-tax collection.
- A training certificate, from IABI or any other private school, shows you completed a course. It is not a government license and not an accreditation.
- Real industry bodies — IADA, the UK’s Air Charter Association — offer their own private credentials, separate from any government requirement.
Air charter brokers: what US law actually requires
If you arrange charter flights for clients — connecting a customer with an operator who flies the trip — you fall under 14 CFR Part 295, “Air Charter Brokers.” Read the rule itself before trusting anyone’s summary of it, including this one. For what the rule actually obliges you to tell a client, section by section, see what Part 295 requires you to disclose.
Part 295 defines an air charter broker as one who, “as an indirect air carrier, foreign indirect air carrier, or a bona fide agent, holds out, sells, or arranges single entity charter air transportation using a direct air carrier” (14 CFR 295.5).
The rule does three things, and none is licensing. It exempts brokers from parts of federal transportation law that otherwise apply to anyone “holding out” air transportation to the public, conditional on following Part 295’s own rules (295.10) — no test, no certificate to earn it. It requires disclosures: before a contract is signed, a broker must name the operating carrier and state its own capacity (agent, or indirect carrier); on request, it must also disclose any relationship with that carrier, total cost, likely third-party fees, and its liability insurance status (295.24). And it bans deceptive practices — “any unfair or deceptive practice or unfair method of competition” (295.22) — with section 295.50 listing examples, including misrepresenting itself as a direct air carrier or selling a flight it has reason to know the named operator can’t legally perform.
Advertising must “clearly and conspicuously state that the air charter broker is an air charter broker, and that it is not a direct air carrier… in operational control of aircraft” (295.23(a)). The company actually flying the trip must hold its own DOT economic authority and FAA safety certificate — a broker “shall not… arrange charter air transportation to be operated by a person or entity that does not hold” that authority (295.20).
The DOT enforces Part 295 — civil penalties, revoked exemption authority, or criminal referral for willful violations (295.52). Nowhere is there a license, exam, or registration number to obtain before you start. See IABI’s FAA Part 135 and Part 91: what aircraft brokers must know on the related operational-control question, and air charter broker training for what the job requires day to day.
An IABI course · IABI publishes this guide
IABI Aircraft Charter Broker Course
Online and self-paced: a 10-module charter broker course plus 5 masterclasses, with lifetime access, for $999. Fees are non-refundable. The certificate is a private training credential, not a license, and no course can promise a job.
Aircraft sales brokers: what US law actually requires
The sales side has even less federal machinery. The FAA registers aircraft and certifies airworthiness — it doesn’t license the people who sell them. There’s no FAA exam, credential or registration for an aircraft sales broker.
The closest thing is the Dealer’s Aircraft Registration Certificate, under 14 CFR Part 47, Subpart C — not a broker’s license. It’s a registration shortcut for businesses that already own inventory aircraft, issued “to U.S. manufacturers and dealers to… facilitate operating, demonstrating, and merchandising aircraft… without the burden of obtaining a Certificate of Aircraft Registration… for each aircraft with each transfer of ownership” (47.61(a)(2)). A qualifying dealer registers once instead of re-registering each aircraft before a sale, and can then fly it for test flights, demonstrations and sale-related purposes.
Eligibility requires “an established place of business in the United States,” being “substantially engaged in manufacturing or selling aircraft,” and US citizenship (47.65). The certificate is issued to the business, expires after one year, and covers only required flight testing and flights “necessary for, or incident to, sale of the aircraft” — a buyer may fly it for demonstration only under the holder’s direct supervision (47.69, 47.71). None of this licenses a salesperson; it licenses use of aircraft the dealer already owns. A broker who never takes title to an aircraft typically has no reason to hold one.
State-level aircraft dealer registration
Federal law is silent, but a handful of states regulate aircraft dealers directly — usually for sales tax, sometimes as a standalone license. Not a complete list; verify your own state’s agency, and an aviation attorney, rather than assume.
| State | What’s required | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Washington | License to “engage in the business of aircraft dealer,” which includes “acting as a broker of aircraft”; $25,000 surety bond (RCW ch. 14.20) | WSDOT — Aircraft dealer license |
| Minnesota | Aircraft Dealer’s License from MnDOT ($10/year) for anyone buying, selling or brokering aircraft; storage evidence and per-transaction “dealer cards” required (Minn. Stat. §360.63; Minn. R. 8800.4800) | Minnesota eLicense — Aircraft Dealer’s License |
| Florida | Tax registration, not a professional license. Brokers — even without possessing the aircraft — must register with the Dept. of Revenue to collect sales/use tax | Florida DOR — Sales and Use Tax on Aircraft, GT-800009 |
Not exhaustive — verify your own state directly rather than assume silence. For what a sales broker needs to learn — valuation, title and lien searches, pre-purchase inspections, escrow — see aircraft sales broker training.
An IABI course · IABI publishes this guide
IABI Aircraft Sales Broker Course
Online and self-paced: a 12-module aircraft sales broker course plus 3 masterclasses, with lifetime access, for $999. Fees are non-refundable. The certificate is a private training credential, not a license, and no course can promise a job.
Business basics that aren’t aviation licenses
A few requirements apply to almost any broker, none aviation-specific:
- A business entity — most brokers use an LLC or corporation, for liability separation, filed with your state.
- State and local business registration, separate from any aircraft-dealer registration above.
- Sales and use tax awareness. Aircraft transactions can trigger sales or use tax depending on where the aircraft is delivered, used or based — Florida’s rules above are one example. Rates and exemptions vary; use a tax professional who handles aircraft deals.
- Escrow. Aircraft sales typically move funds and title through an independent escrow or title company, not directly between buyer and seller, protecting both sides through the lien search and closing.
None of this makes you a “licensed broker” — it’s ordinary business hygiene.
Certification, license and accreditation — the difference
- A license is issued by government and required by law before you act — a pilot certificate, or a state dealer’s license like the examples above. No US federal agency issues an aircraft broker’s license, though a few states license or register aircraft dealers, as shown above.
- An accreditation is a formal, third-party evaluation of an institution against defined standards, renewed periodically — heavier than a course certificate, and usually applied to organizations, not individuals.
- A certification (course certificate) shows you completed a training program. It’s issued by the school, not a government or accrediting body, and its value depends on what the school teaches.
A course certificate from any private provider — IABI’s included — is a private training credential: evidence you completed that course, not a government license or an accreditation. None is legally required to broker aircraft.
A few real industry bodies issue their own credentials, none of them government licenses. IADA accredits dealer firms and separately certifies individual brokers; becoming an Accredited Dealer takes sponsorship from three existing accredited dealers, an application fee, and a board vote, and Certified Brokers are listed by name on iada.aero. NBAA is a membership association for business aviation companies and professionals; it doesn’t certify individual brokers. NAFA is a membership organization of aircraft-finance companies, including brokers and dealers — education and networking, not certification.
Whatever you’re weighing, ask what it verifies and whether any government requires it. IABI’s own blog covers this from another angle in Certification to become an aircraft broker.
Outside the United States
United Kingdom. No government broker’s licence (UK spelling) exists either. The closest thing is a voluntary credential: The Air Charter Association’s Broker Qualification — three levels, Foundation Knowledge through Advanced Broker Skills, each with an assessment. It’s “currently only available to persons employed by a member company of The Air Charter Association,” per the Association’s own site — membership-based training, not a government requirement.
Elsewhere. Rules vary by country. If you’re brokering outside the US or UK, check with that country’s civil aviation authority and a local aviation attorney rather than assume either way.
So what should you actually do?
- Decide charter or sales first — the rules and daily work differ. See how to become an aircraft broker if you haven’t settled this.
- Check your own state for “aircraft dealer” registration — don’t assume the table above covers you.
- Set up the business basics — entity, registration, a sales/use tax plan — before you take a client’s money.
- Treat training as skills, not a license. Judge a course by what it teaches, using a checklist like how to choose an aircraft broker course — not by whether it calls itself “certified.”
- Talk to an aviation attorney before your first real transaction, especially on the sales side, where title and liens carry real financial risk. This page is not legal advice.
Free from IABI · IABI publishes this guide
Want to talk it through before you spend anything?
IABI runs a free webinar on how to become an aircraft broker, and offers a free one-to-one consultation. Both are a way to ask questions and judge the teaching for yourself before paying for any course.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a license to be an aircraft broker in the US?
No federal license exists for either side. Charter brokers must follow 14 CFR Part 295’s consumer-protection rules; some states require dealer registration, mostly tied to sales tax.
Is an aircraft broker certification the same as a license?
No. A certification is a private credential from the school that ran the course. A license comes from government and is legally required to act. No certification program issues a license.
Do I need an FAA Dealer’s Aircraft Registration Certificate to broker sales?
Only if you take title to inventory aircraft. It’s a registration shortcut for dealers who own aircraft (14 CFR Part 47, Subpart C) — not a license to broker.
Does a charter broker need to register with the FAA or DOT?
No. Part 295 requires specific disclosures and bans deceptive practices, enforced by the DOT — there’s no application or number to obtain first.
Can a broker also be the operator flying the charter?
Sometimes, but only with its own authority. A company that holds its own DOT and FAA air carrier authority can operate flights itself and can also broker flights on other operators’ aircraft. When it acts as a broker, Part 295 requires it to make clear that it is not the direct air carrier in operational control of that flight. A broker with no carrier authority cannot operate the trip.
Is IABI’s certificate accredited or government-recognized?
No. It’s a training credential earned by completing the course and passing the final exam — not a government license or accreditation, and not legal permission to broker.