For those who will be attending the NBAA IOC, Rick Gardner from CST Flight Services will be on the panel for the "Mastering Customs: Essential Insights for Seamless International Travel" presentation discussing CBP regulations and procedures, along with CBP representatives and other industry experts. CBP has been emphasizing the "GA Processing Life Cycle" which is a review of the entire trip planning, execution and debriefing process as related to CBP regulations. For those who have participated in the Coffee with Customs series (CwC), you will have already been exposed to this concept. At the IOC, the CBP General Aviation Headquarters leadership will be present, so this is a unique opportunity to pose your questions and issues directly to CBP leadership. As I am both part of an International Services Provider (CST Flight Services) as well as a professional pilot, I will be discussing different situations from both perspectives and sharing ideas and recommendations on how to avoid getting into the most common causes for CBP penalty cases. We will also be making available to the IOC participants a checklist that we have compiled for the entire CBP GA Processing Life Cycle to help pilots with the planning, execution and debriefing process for international flights to/from the US.

Remember, the CBP penalty goes against the PIC, not anyone else, so pilots really need to be on top of this and not solely rely on "the folks back at the office". Penalties are not only a significant financial penalty, but you also lose your Global Entry privileges for 10 YEARS! PIC's also lose their Border Overflight Exemption privileges for 6 months which has unfortunately cost more than one pilot their job.

CST Flight Services will also have a booth at the conference where Ivonne Lima, our Operations Manager and myself, will be happy to discuss any international flying regulatory or operational questions or issues that you may have not only for the US CBP but for our geographic region of Mexico, Central America, South America, Bermuda, The Bahamas and the Caribbean. The NBAA IOC is a great opportunity to share, learn and network with other professionals involved in the international flight planning and execution process. And..... this year it is in Puerto Rico!!

CST Flight Services (Formerly: Caribbean Sky Tours)
www.cstflightservices.com