This is the question that decides whether an operator signs up, and it deserves a straight answer: operational control is not shared. It is yours, entirely, and we do not want it any other way.
What that means in practice
You decide whether the flight goes. Not us, not the passenger and not the commercial calendar. If the ceiling is not there that morning at Tortuguero — 53.4 nautical miles from San José, a daylight and visual field — the decision belongs to dispatch and the crew.
You assign the crew and the aircraft. We pass on what the passenger needs and you answer with what you can put up. Before confirming we check that the assigned aircraft accepts the destination field under that date’s forecast conditions.
That includes saying no to a combination that works on paper. Drake Bay is 83.5 nautical miles from San José and takes generous categories, but the range with reserves on a given day is your calculation, not a search engine's.
And you carry the operation. It is your certificate that covers the flight. We do not operate: We work with certificated operators and aircraft available in Central America; outside the region we coordinate on request.
Why this is not a courtesy
It is the structure of the arrangement itself. A broker directing dispatch would be operating without a certificate, and that is not a contractual nuance: it is the line separating the two activities.
So when an operator asks us "what if you want it to go and I do not?", the answer is that the conversation does not exist. There is no mechanism by which we could ask.
Where the broker does come in
In everything that happens before the request reaches you:
Translating what the passenger asks for. Someone writing "a flight to Osa" has not said which strip. Drake Bay and Puerto Jiménez are on opposite sides of the peninsula, and we settle that before bothering you.
Filtering what does not fit. If the group does not fit any available category, or the destination needs a permit nobody has applied for, that is resolved without reaching your desk.
And carrying the commercial side. Price, conditions, expectations and the conversation afterwards if something goes wrong.
There is a fourth that shows little and saves much: setting expectations before the booking. A passenger who has been told that daylight fields close on weather accepts a reschedule; one who believed they bought a guaranteed time does not. That conversation is cheaper before than after, and it is not yours to have.
What we do ask for, and it is not control
Operators we bring on evidence current certification, insurance and fleet documentation before receiving a first assignment.
Verifying documentation is not directing the operation: it is making sure whoever flies can fly. A broker who does not look at those papers is not respecting your independence, they are neglecting their job.
The uncomfortable part
If you cancel on operational grounds, the passenger has no flight and we have the conversation. We do not hand it to you.
But neither will we press you to revisit a dispatch decision. If that ever happens, the problem will be ours and should be dealt with as ours.
An operator who bends judgement under commercial pressure is exactly the operator we do not want to work with. Not as an abstract principle: because the day they bend with us, they will already have bent with someone else.
Frequently asked questions
Who decides whether the flight goes?
You do. Dispatch and the crew, with your certificate behind it. Not us.
Can you ask me to revisit a cancellation?
There is no mechanism for it. If it ever happened, the problem would be ours.
Then why do you verify my documentation?
Because a broker who does not look is neglecting their job. Verifying is not directing. Operators we bring on evidence current certification, insurance and fleet documentation before receiving a first assignment.
Can you assign the aircraft?
No. We pass on what the passenger needs; the aircraft and crew are yours to put up.
Who talks to the passenger if I cancel?
We do. That conversation does not get handed to you.
Where does the broker come in?
Before the request reaches you: translating what the passenger asks, filtering what does not fit and carrying the commercial side.
Let us talk
Operators we bring on evidence current certification, insurance and fleet documentation before receiving a first assignment.