Services

certified appraisals

Used gen­er­ally for formal bank financing, trust set­tle­ments, divorces and most lit­i­ga­tion, a cer­ti­fied air­plane appraisal is a detailed and accu­rate assess­ment of an aircraft’s mar­ket value based on a com­pre­hen­sive exam­i­na­tion of the aircraft’s present phys­i­cal con­di­tion and past flight his­tory. The only true way to deter­mine an aircraft’s mar­ket value is to per­form a detailed inspec­tion of the air­craft inte­rior and exte­rior, as well as those books and records asso­ci­ated with its oper­a­tion and main­te­nance. The exte­rior is inspected for dam­age, cor­ro­sion, loose or miss­ing fas­ten­ers, paint con­di­tion, air­frame con­di­tion, oil leaks and tire con­di­tion. The inte­rior of the air­craft is inspected includ­ing the cock­pit, pas­sen­ger area, and bag­gage com­part­ment. The con­di­tion of seats, car­pets, head and side pan­els are noted. The books and records are scanned for ser­vice bul­letin com­pli­ance, air­wor­thi­ness direc­tives (AD’s) and especially, dam­age history.

Desktop Appraisals

This type of appraisal is used to inform an air­craft owner, buyer, or seller of the value of a cer­tain air­craft. This process is more accu­rate than a Book Value since the “actual con­di­tion” of the air­craft will be con­sid­ered. It has a sub­stan­tially lower cost than a Cer­ti­fied Appraisal because the appraiser does not inspect the air­craft. The client is respon­si­ble for pro­vid­ing and ver­i­fy­ing the accu­racy of the data. A Mar­ket Analy­sis has lim­ited use­ful­ness and can­not be used for obtain­ing financ­ing or for tax and legal dis­putes. It is how­ever, an inex­pen­sive way to develop a fair esti­mate of mar­ket value based on air­craft con­di­tion. Since the appraiser does not actu­ally inspect the air­craft, he can­not cer­tify its value.

diminution of value

Diminu­tion in value is a term used when cal­cu­lat­ing dam­ages in a legal dis­pute, and describes a mea­sure of value lost due to a cir­cum­stance or set of cir­cum­stances that caused the loss. Gen­er­ally, in the case of air­craft dam­age diminu­tion, it could include the cost to repair the air­craft, the loss of rev­enue that would have been gen­er­ated dur­ing its down time. It would also include the costs of seek­ing alter­nate trans­porta­tion for the owner, monthly pay­ments on the air­craft, hangar and insur­ance that can­not be avoided dur­ing down­time. Specif­i­cally, it mea­sures the value of some­thing before and after the dam­age event. It is the lost value in order to cal­cu­late­com­pen­satory dam­ages. Our staff has been called upon to assist in a num­ber of these sit­u­a­tions.

market or Fleet evaluations

Our group helps clients gain cor­po­rate avi­a­tion insight so they can make smart, informed deci­sions before they engage in air­craft acqui­si­tions, financ­ing or man­age­ment. 

Expert Witness Testimony

There are times that arise when cer­tain par­ties can­not resolve their dif­fer­ences through nego­ti­a­tion and lit­i­ga­tion ensues. Dur­ing that process we have tasked to pro­vide all facets of the above val­u­a­tion ser­vices through writ­ten and oral tes­ti­mony in depo­si­tion and in court. Retained by either the plain­tiff or the defen­dant, the appraiser is man­dated to make hon­est and eth­i­cal eval­u­a­tions of air­craft value, dam­age and diminu­tion. The appraiser is then required to undergo a cross exam­i­na­tion by the oppo­si­tion in defense of the devel­op­ment of his opinions.

buyer's agent services

Hav­ing some­one to rep­re­sent your inter­ests is a must in today’s mar­ket­place. The aver­age age of the gen­eral avi­a­tion fleet is 20+ years. There are a large num­ber of poten­tial pit­falls for an inex­pe­ri­enced pur­chaser to nav­i­gate. And, in addi­tion to being inex­pe­ri­enced many buy­ers can’t afford the time away from their work that is required to make a suc­cess­ful pur­chase. We rep­re­sent buy­ers from the open­ing of escrow, through the pre buy inspec­tion, test flights and finally the air­craft accep­tance. We help staff and oper­ate the air­craft if needed.

Aircraft Management Consulting

In an effort to pro­vide con­tin­ued post-purchase ser­vices to our cus­tomers, we offer cost analy­sis prepa­ra­tion as well as air­craft man­age­ment con­sult­ing. From the hir­ing of pilots to the hangar­ing and main­te­nance of air­craft, we can help.