ARGUS and Wyvern Ratings Explained for Charter Brokers
A practical explanation of ARGUS CHEQ and Wyvern Wingman safety ratings for private jet operators. What they mean, what they do not cover, and how to use them in your sourcing process.
When you are sourcing a charter trip, one of the first things clients ask about is safety. ARGUS and Wyvern are the two dominant third-party safety auditing programs in private aviation. Understanding what these ratings mean -- and what they do not cover -- is essential for any broker who wants to give clients accurate information.
What is ARGUS CHEQ?
ARGUS International is a safety audit company that rates Part 135 operators on a tiered scale: ARGUS Registered, ARGUS Gold, and ARGUS Platinum. The ratings are based on a combination of FAA record review, operator questionnaire, and on-site audit (for Gold and Platinum). The CHEQ (Charter Evaluation and Qualification) program is ARGUS's standardized operator evaluation framework.
ARGUS Platinum is the highest rating and requires an on-site audit with a standardized checklist covering operations, maintenance, and safety management. ARGUS Gold requires a records review and questionnaire. ARGUS Registered is the entry level and requires only a basic records review.
What is Wyvern Wingman?
Wyvern is a competing safety audit program with a similar structure. The Wyvern Wingman rating is their highest level and requires an on-site audit. Wyvern also offers a PASS (Pilot and Aircraft Safety Survey) rating that focuses specifically on pilot qualifications and aircraft records.
What These Ratings Cover
- FAA certificate status and compliance history
- Pilot training records and qualifications
- Aircraft maintenance records
- Safety management system documentation
- Insurance coverage verification
- Operations manual review
What These Ratings Do Not Cover
This is the part most brokers do not talk about. ARGUS and Wyvern ratings are point-in-time assessments. They tell you what the operator looked like on the day of the audit. They do not tell you what happened after the audit. An operator can have an ARGUS Platinum rating and receive an FAA enforcement action the following month.
- Post-audit FAA enforcement actions
- NTSB incidents after the audit date
- Changes in pilot roster or qualifications
- Aircraft additions or removals from operating specs
- Financial stability of the operator
- On-time performance data
How to Use Ratings in Your Sourcing Process
ARGUS and Wyvern ratings are a useful starting point, not a complete safety assessment. Use them as a filter, not a guarantee. An operator without a rating is not necessarily unsafe -- many excellent small operators do not go through the audit process because of the cost. An operator with a Platinum rating is not necessarily safe if they have had recent FAA enforcement actions.
The most complete picture of an operator's safety record comes from combining audit ratings with FAA enforcement history, NTSB incident records, and on-time performance data. This is exactly what the WingmanOS operator scoring system does -- it synthesizes all of these data sources into a single reliability score that updates automatically.