Benefits of Jet Brokerage Services When Buying an Aircraft

If you’re new to the world of private aviation and think purchasing a private jet is as easy as buying a car, you’d unfortunately been mistaken. Purchasing a private aircraft is not a simple process, if anything you could call it complex with a lot of moving parts and details that you need to be aware of.  Having someone who knows the ropes in your corner that can guide you through the whole purchasing process, or better yet, can handle the whole project on your behalf can save you a lot of time and pain. That’s where jet brokerage services come into play. The professionals at these companies are well-versed in all the intricacies of buying a private jet, and their assistance can prove essential in your venture to obtain your highly coveted new mode of transportation. 

Choosing a private aircraft

Well once you’ve decided that you want a private jet, you should probably narrow down your preferences to what type of private aircraft you would like. Since there are multiple classes of private jets to choose from, you’ll need to figure out how you’re going to utilize it – is it going to be for private use or are you going to charter it out? And while purchasing the biggest, most comfortable jet might sound enticing at first, there aren’t going to be 18 passengers always flying in it. More often than not, it might just be four to five people so, you need to be mindful of how you’re going to use the private jet and what is the average range you need to cover to reach your destinations.

Then you need to zero in on the amenities that you prefer it would be equipped with, and what cabin size you’d prefer. Now that you’ve figured out precisely what you’re looking for, your next step should be to pick out a larger list of private jets that you’d like to try. Chartering these aircrafts and trying them out in real life will allow you to get a better grasp of what you like and what you dislike, so that you can narrow down the list to a handful of your favorite picks. Buying the wrong jet can be very expensive. And you wouldn’t buy a car without test-driving it first, would you?

Your private jet purchasing concierge  

Once you’ve pinpointed your choices you can now turn to your jet brokerage firm that can come up with a long list of aircrafts that you can choose from. By going through your list of wants and preferences you can put together a shortlist of planes that will suit your needs and use case. Brokerage professionals have years of accumulated knowledge that allow them to provide you with recommendations that you might have not uncovered through your research or didn’t know were even available. So, by keeping an open mind you might even be surprised by the options that would be at your disposal.

That being said you also need to consider your budget. Purchasing your jet is just the start you need to be aware of the costs associated with owning an aircraft. Taking that into consideration, when purchasing a jet sticking tightly to your budget or going for a cheaply priced jet can come back to haunt you. The low price could indicate the jet could be having issues or be of low quality, so paying slightly above your budget for a well-maintained and well-equipped jet can be a worthwhile trade-off. 

The purchasing process

Once your broker has the shortlist consisting of specific planes with dedicated serial numbers that you are interested in, they can move onto the next step in the process. Based on your selection, the advisor now approaches the vendors of your chosen private jets with a Letter Of Intent, or LOI for short. Basically, you can think of it as submitting an offer for the said private aircraft. The LOI is often intensely negotiated, and it focuses on transaction details and the ownership structure. Once the LOI is accepted, you wire through the agreed upon deposit. From start to finish, this can take up to three weeks. 

The next step in the process is going through the purchase agreement. This will include a draft of the purchase agreement that you can go over with your advisor, meanwhile, the private jet goes through a visual inspection and its records are reviewed. During this period any tax implications are resolved, and the transaction details are finalized. This could take approximately up to a month. 

Another part of the purchasing process is the Pre-Purchase Inspection or PPI for short. We’ve delved into what a PPI is in detail in another article but here is a quick refresher: it’s an in-depth Pre-Purchase or Pre-Buy Inspection of the aircraft that you’re considering buying, aimed at uncovering any hidden or unknown problems. This could take up to another month. Once that is done you can move to the last part of the purchasing process – the closing. This involves the delivery of the private jet, registration change, and the CAA issuing a certificate of airworthiness and inspecting the aircraft. 

All things considered, the purchasing process of a private jet can take up to three months from start to finish. However, it can take longer or sometimes shorter since different variables can affect the length of the process. 

As you can see, the process itself is quite complex, so it's worth considering hiring seasoned professionals to guide you through the process and help you make a good investment in your new jet.  If you’d like assistance with purchasing a jet don’t hesistate to contacts us. And if you’d like to go into more detail about the process feel free to download  our Business jet buyer’s guide.