Premier Aviation Services is often hired by aircraft buyers as their agent to "find the best deal". We know the jet and helicopter market and this is what we do everyday. Opportunities often arise and then sell quickly. The best deals never last long. We are talking to all sellers on a daily basis and the value we add is superior results for clients.
OUR COMMISSION IS A FRACTION OF THE SAVINGS WE PRODUCE
For most companies, shopping for a multi-million dollar jet aircraft or helicopter is not an everyday occurrence. It's expensive and at times hazardous. For the same reasons you might hire an accountant or attorney, hiring an expert as part of your team is smart business. With every detail of your transaction, we represent your best interests as if we were buying for ourselves. You can trust that things will be handled the right way.
PREMIER AVIATION IS AN EXPERT IN INDENTIFYING THE BEST DEAL
There's nothing worse than overpaying for an aircraft when a better deal was available, especially with the large amounts involved. Today's jet and helicopter market offers numerous aircraft to choose from, each with it's own unique set of variables. Age, times, equipment, maintenance and condition all play an important role in determining the relative value of an aircraft. After all, an aircraft purchase represents a substantial investment in future resale value. Here's how we do it:
We start by listening to you carefully to know exactly what you are looking for. Next, our staff will actually contact each and every owner of the type aircraft you are interested in to make sure all possible candidate aircraft are identified. The fact is, the best deals never last long and during this process, Premier Aviation routinely finds aircraft that are coming up for sale before the rest of the market knows. Often, this is where the best deals are. We seek the motivated seller with the best equipped aircraft. Next, we apply years of experience in comparing the value offered by each aircraft to the price asked. Our goal is to help our clients "buy at a profit".
MAKING A PRE-BUY INSPECTION REALLY WORK FOR YOU
Thirty years ago it was unusual for a pre-buy inspection to be accomplished as a part of the aircraft acquisition process. As aircraft get older and as corporations have bought and sold more aircraft, a pre-buy inspection is now the norm, and rightfully so! Since there is a very high degree of financial risk associated with the purchase of an aircraft for sale, it is vital that you select the most effective inspection regime for the dollar amount that you are willing to spend.
Advice is available to you on this subject from a variety of sources: your aircraft broker, the chosen inspection facility, operators of the same aircraft, and owner groups, to name just a few. All suitable inspection facilities have an "in-house" checklist that they use to provide you with a pre-buy quote and to use while conducting the pre-buy or technical survey. Some checklists are excellent and some are downright pathetic. Before you finalise the checklist that is to be used it is imperative that you know and understand what all of the critical and most important checklist items are for the model of aircraft that you are attempting to buy.
To start with, the terms airworthy and flight worthy are extremely subjective and may be interpreted differently by all. To eliminate any possible conflict later, the pre-buy checklist that you select should include all of the items required by a standard phase or periodic inspection. This ensures that the inspectors at your chosen facility can apply a known standard to their determinations and rulings of airworthiness. If this is not possible, then at least demand that the facility compare their checklist to the maintenance schedule for the aircraft to determine what scheduled inspection and maintenance items can be cleared and signed off as "complied with" at the pre-buy and closing.
Remember it is normal for a seller NOT to allow any upgrades, modifications or changes to be made to the aircraft until after the transaction is closed. However, if you are able to orchestrate the signing off of an inspection prior to the closing, the seller will be more willing to allow this to occur, than the re-painting of the aircraft our any other more significant change items.
Don't be surprised if the seller says a very definite NO when you request that for example a C inspection (due every 72 months on a Falcon or a 1200 hour on an Agusta 109) be signed of as a part of the pre-buy, especially if the aircraft is not actually due for this inspection for another 24 months or so. The sellers reasoning is that if you don't accept the aircraft and close, you have now put their normal budget maintenance schedule out of sequence.
The best way to minimize your risk and exposure during a pre-buy is to hire a professional aircraft sales / acquisition firm at the very beginning of the acquisition process. Before any aircraft is taken to pre-buy, your expert should search the market for the specific model desired and select three of the most suitable candidates. Those aircraft and their records should be inspected, all three if necessary, to determine which airplane to send to pre-buy.
It is also important for our acquisition team to be in attendance during the pre-buy. It is Premier's policy to stay with the aircraft throughout the inspection regardless of whether we are representing the buyer or the seller. This approach ensures your interests are being protected during this complex and expensive process.