Copy of How to evaluate an aircraft management company

If you own an aircraft and you don't run it yourself, you hire someone to do it. The market for aircraft management is crowded and the gap between a good manager and a mediocre one shows up in places that are hard to see from the outside. These are the questions worth asking before signing.

Operations

How does the manager actually fly your airplane? That means everything from dispatch through landing:

• Day-to-day flight operations and crew activities
• Recurrent training in the classroom and the simulator
• Scheduling pilots and aircraft against your trip calendar
• Travel support for the crew before, during, and after the trip
• On-board catering and ground transportation arrangements

A good operator owns all of this, not just the flight itself.

Flight crew

Pilots make or break a flight department. Look at how the manager handles:

• Recruiting, hiring, and training new crewmembers
• Retention (the cost of constantly replacing pilots is real and shows up in your check)
• Payroll administration
• The relationships between the crew, the dispatcher, and you

Maintenance

The unglamorous half of ownership. Ask how the manager handles:

• Routine inspection scheduling and squawk tracking
• Emergency repairs and AOG response
• Phase reporting back to you and your lender
• The in-house versus outsource decision (some shops keep maintenance in-house; others coordinate to a vendor network)
• Aircraft upgrades: avionics, interior, paint, capital improvements
• Assessment and scheduling of those upgrades against your operating calendar

Charter use

If your aircraft will fly Part 135 charter through a manager's certificate, that introduces a separate set of considerations:

• The marketing and reach behind the charter program (how often the aircraft will actually be chartered)
• Scheduling priority between your trips and charter trips
• Revenue share structure

At The Pilot Port, the Aviation Solutions side runs Part 91 only. Charter work is referred out. We are deliberate about that boundary.

Finance

Owners get surprised by the financial side of management more often than any other category. Ask up front about:

• Direct cost coverage: fuel, maintenance, crew training, insurance, hangar
• Invoice review and audit on both the cost and revenue sides
• Monthly and annual reporting cadence

You want a manager who can produce the data lenders, insurers, and your CPA actually need without a fire drill each time.

Size and location

Smaller, more personalized managers offer attention you cannot get from a national operator. Larger, more established managers offer scale, redundancy, and a longer track record. Neither is universally better. The right answer depends on the aircraft type, the way you use it, and how much hand-holding you want.

Ask whether the manager already handles your specific airframe. An operator who flies Citations every day will run yours better than a manager who picked up their first one last quarter.

Safety

This is the floor, not the ceiling. Every manager will claim a clean safety record. Look for:

• Documented safety record by hours flown, not just incidents
• Third-party ratings (ARGUS, Wyvern, IS-BAO)
• A functioning Safety Management System
• Compliance with FAA, ICAO, OSHA, and DOT requirements

Independent audits matter more than they sound. As one operator put it: third-party rating bodies "keep us on our toes and do a good job." A company that has reached ARGUS Platinum and Wyvern Wingman has done more than tick the FAA boxes. IS-BAO is one of the stronger audits in the industry, a chance for US operators to go above and beyond what the FAA requires.

Supplemental lift

When your airplane is in maintenance, on a different trip, or otherwise unavailable, can the manager source another aircraft on short notice? Ask whether they have:

• Relationships with charter operators and brokers
• Their own supplemental fleet
• A clear process for handing the trip off when supplemental lift is needed

Most owners discover they care about this the first time their primary aircraft goes AOG on a Friday afternoon.

Fees

Aircraft management fees come in a few standard structures. Some are flat monthly. Some are per-flight-hour. Some are a hybrid with cost markups on direct expenses. The headline number rarely tells the full story. Ask:

• What the fee actually covers, and what it does not
• How fuel, maintenance, and insurance are billed (cost pass-through versus marked up)
• What happens when costs spike (fuel, hull insurance, engine reserves)

A transparent manager will explain the fee structure on the first call without dancing around it.

What to take into the conversation

Find a match with a manager whose strengths line up with what your aircraft and your usage actually need. There is no universally best operator. There is a best operator for your aircraft, your trip pattern, your CPA, and your tolerance for the unglamorous side of ownership.

If you want to talk through it: fly@thepilotport.com.