Business or commercial aircraft ownership is complicated. And that’s an understatement. Aircraft management requires a skilled owner or owners who understand and can locate a team of talented individuals able to manage the enormous responsibilities that come with the territory.
Your aircraft management team needs to be as much a part of the acquisition decision as the aircraft is. The mistake we sometimes see businesses make is that they subconsciously let the financial details of the purchase aspect dominate their thinking without carefully considering the full impact and consequences related to long term operation of the aircraft. In our experience, it’s not that uncommon for purchase decisions to be made before clearly identifying and engaging core team members who will be involved in the day-to-day operations.
To that end, here’s an aircraft management checklist we’ve created that might be helpful in organizing your firm to ensure that safety and the bottom line are addressed equally throughout the purchase process:
- Identify an experienced team from finance to maintenance who will be responsible for planning and reporting a strategic plan for purchase and long term management. This may be an internal team or you may wish to outsource aircraft management. Either way, they need to be at the table from the start to aid in decisions and recommendations.
- Generate a strategic plan that includes the following:
- Flight operation management
- Technical management, maintenance, control, planning and quality control
- Crew and maintenance management plan
- SMS coordination
- Regulatory Airworthiness liaison
- Operations control centre including dispatch
- Provision of all manuals and SOP
- Record keeping, reporting budgeting, payment services
- Scheduling and travel support services for Clients and passengers
While not exhaustive, we have found that having planned for these items can be a good start to helping you prepare for effective aircraft management that will protect both safety and the bottom line as you become operational.