Guide to Selecting an Aircraft Management and Rental Specialist

Aircraft Charter and Management is a highly regulated and highly specialized business. The relationship between the owner of an aircraft and his management company is unique; it is closer to a partnership than a traditional supplier-customer relationship. When it comes to selecting an aircraft management company, most owners like to hire a company with extensive experience, superior safety ratings, and who understands and is aligned with the owner’s air travel requirements. In this post, we will discuss the key areas that are differentiators when choosing an ACM company.

– Experience is one of the most important factors. When looking for an aircraft charter and management specialist, you have to consider their experience. This is extremely vital because it largely determines the type of services you can expect from them. If necessary, ask the prospective company to offer references from previous customers with similar aircraft and mission profiles.

– Consider your security ratings. There are well known and respected organizations like Argus, Wyvern, IS-BAO, and Air Charter Safety Foundation that rate ACM companies based on their safety record. Ask the potential management company for the qualifications of these organizations.

– Who are your clients? While many organizations and individual aircraft owners prefer confidentiality, some may be available for use as a reference. At a minimum, an ACM operator should be able to provide a profile of their clients “blindly” for review.

– What is your experience? A prospective management company should be able to provide you with a summary of their operations specifications, or OPSPECS, so that you can better understand their capabilities. This is especially important for homeowners planning to travel outside of the US.

– How do you measure success? Another way of saying this is what kind of reports will you receive? Most managed aircraft owners receive a monthly summary that details each flight, each maintenance transaction, etc. As the owner, you have every right to receive the information you want, in the format you want. If you are used to reviewing performance reports in a certain way, you should also be able to tailor your aircraft activity reports in this way. If you want, you can even set up an automated data interface to electronically transfer this information to you.

Finally, you must understand the value proposition. Not every business can deal with management requirements efficiently, and this can only increase your overall costs. The purpose of hiring an aviation management company is to maintain strict control of operations and increase efficiency and transparency. Unless the management company can meet your expectations in these areas, it is unlikely that you can expect good returns when it comes to customer service and execution execution.

Consider these areas as your stagecoach aircraft charter and management companies for potential use. If you prefer to use a third-party consultant, that can also give you the peace of mind you seek that prospective ACM companies have been properly vetted to meet your needs.