Don’t Miss These Key Steps for Buying Preowned Business Aircraft

July 30, 2025

When executed correctly, buying a preowned business aircraft in the U.S. means following a complex process that includes hundreds of steps.

Stakes can be high: Missing or misrepresenting just one piece of the puzzle can trigger a chain of events that ends up killing the transaction, often costing the buyer thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses. And, if those items aren’t caught before the closing, the result for the buyer could be long-term grief.

Experts shared their expertise on some of the most important things to remember when buying a business aircraft.

Need Versus Want

First, buyers should conduct a “need-versus-want” analysis, said Jim Lara, founder and principal of Gray Stone Advisors. “To select the aircraft, you have to identify what is needed versus what you want. They’re never the same,” Lara said. “Need is usually significantly less than the want. You do that to quantify what the difference in capital and operating costs are.”

Before selecting an aircraft model, it’s also important to distinguish the difference between cost and price, said VanAllen CEO Jeff Agur.

“Many times – first-time buyers specifically – will focus very much on the acquisition price, while not always understanding the true cost of ownership,” Agur said. “Each make and model of aircraft have different important considerations. Things like fuel burn, maintenance costs – even staffing costs that we suggest – need to be fully understood and embedded before you actually transact an aircraft.”

Find a Detail-Oriented Broker Who Understands Value

“Although it is self-serving because I am a broker, the business jet world is the most remarkably inefficient market in the world,” said Guardian Jet Co-Founder and Managing Partner Mike Dwyer. “If I go to Burger King, I know the price of a Whopper. I don’t negotiate; I hand them the money. Preowned jets are trading plus or minus 10% to 20% around what I’ll call the intrinsic value or adjusted book.”

Dwyer recommends finding a “broker who really understands value and understands it from understanding recent sales and recent comparable sales.” It’s also important, he said, to involve a partner who understands the technical elements of the transaction – a process-oriented broker who navigates the granular detail of a deal.

Use a Working Group; Focus on Timelines

“Onboarding a new aircraft is a huge task,” said Lynze Norris, aircraft program manager at Coca-Cola. “By utilizing a working group for the project, it creates checks and balances to ensure nothing is forgotten.”

After finding a broker and escrow agent, the next step to consider is timelines.

“We approach this from the perspective of critical criteria for the transaction,” Agur said. “If we’re looking at a specific market: Is it vintage? Is it maintenance status? Is it interior configuration? Is it pedigree? Is it capital costs? If these critical criteria are tight, your timeline will be longer. Less criteria will give you more options and potentially less time.”

The process timelines for some items, such as letters of authorization (LOAs) needs to start months out, said Norris. “The more you can do before the airplane shows up the better, so you can get it operational faster.” Norris said it’s also just as important to understand the process of what is needed, because it reduces any hiccups that may result from forgetting something.

Items such as hiring a crew can take 60-90 days, said Lara. But, if necessary, finding available slots at training centers can be a lengthy process that should be built into the timeline.

“Speak with your insurance broker to see if pilots can be insured and what your liability limits are,” Lara said. “You also should employ an aviation lawyer and speak with your accountant about the tax and legal considerations of the purchase.” It’s essential for all of this to be done before a specific aircraft on the market has been selected. “There is a hell of a lot of homework here,” said Lara.

Purchase and Sale Agreements

Next step: Drafting the purchase and sale agreement and organize a prepurchase inspection (PPI). Getting a PPI slot can take up to three months. When a PPI location has been chosen, it’s now time to select a specific target aircraft.

After that, the seller will enter purchase-and-sale-agreement negotiations with the buyer. A best-case scenario is to deal with a broker, said Lara. It can be more complex with individual owners, because emotion is often involved. The most crucial points to agree on are the price and the resolution of discrepancies. Once these are agreed on, the next step is to pay the deposit, which is handled by the escrow agent.

Deposits are often in the $500,000 range, making it extremely important to properly draw up the purchase and sale agreement and ensure the escrow agent is reputable. “If this isn’t confirmed, we have seen deals not consummated and deposits being lost,” said Lara.

“If all is well, then you as the buyer have to decide if the aircraft passed, according to your specifications in the PPI. If it failed, you as the buyer still owe the cost of the PPI, but the seller retains the aircraft. If the PPI passes, then you proceed to close it. That’s where your broker, attorney, accountant and insurance person all come together; title is transferred and the aircraft is yours,” Lara said.

With experience comes understanding, said Norris. “Like any extensive project, experience and diligent preparation makes the process easier over time.”