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Services.Listed below are the different vendors needed to purchase and operate a plane, with a brief description of what each one looks like and how we manage them. Yes, One Stop Aviation manages all of them, so you don't have to deal with anything you don't want to.
Time costs money. Mistakes cost money. Two of the biggest ways we save money are saving time and preventing mistakes. If you have your own preferred vendor for any service, we will interface with, advise, and/or direct them as needed. We will still be the single connection point, unless you would like to have direct contact with them. Either way, we will ensure a seamless interaction between all parties to make sure no information is missed and everyone is up to date. |
What We Do and Why Our Service is Worth Paying For
Quarterbacking the Transaction
One Stop Aviation will manage the entire purchase process from the top to the bottom. Quarterbacking the process is not unlike cooking a meal in that part of the artwork is timing the different dishes to be ready at the same time. With an airplane deal, the dishes include financing, insurance, legal work, escrow, aircraft management, tax planning, pre-purchase inspection, etc. - not to mention finding the right aircraft and making the deal in the first place.
Some vendors will tell you that they will manage the entire process, but this usually translates to mean they will provide referrals to their go to vendors and assist with several aspects of the deal. OSA is the only true one stop shop for aircraft purchases. While most people can ultimately get through the deal, with aircraft purchases there are often traps for the unwary. There is no substitute for having experts quarterback the deal to be sure it gets done right, and the one stop shop approach makes the process easier and more efficient.
Some vendors will tell you that they will manage the entire process, but this usually translates to mean they will provide referrals to their go to vendors and assist with several aspects of the deal. OSA is the only true one stop shop for aircraft purchases. While most people can ultimately get through the deal, with aircraft purchases there are often traps for the unwary. There is no substitute for having experts quarterback the deal to be sure it gets done right, and the one stop shop approach makes the process easier and more efficient.
Acting as General Contractor for the Acquisition Team
We choose the team we would want if we were in your shoes leveraging our long standing relationship in the industry. If you already have someone in place, we will integrate them into our team. We retain the vendors directly where possible, and otherwise do everything practical short of hiring them if not (e.g. financing).
Hiring the right people to do the job inevitably saves time and avoids mistakes. Also, for each vendor we retain and/or manage for you, you save a considerable amount of time selecting them and talking and emailing with them. The difference between hiring the right person and the wrong person could easily save or cost tens of thousands of dollars each. We know who to hire and who not to hire. We also leverage our relationships with our vendors to make sure you get the best and most efficient service at the best price.
Hiring the right people to do the job inevitably saves time and avoids mistakes. Also, for each vendor we retain and/or manage for you, you save a considerable amount of time selecting them and talking and emailing with them. The difference between hiring the right person and the wrong person could easily save or cost tens of thousands of dollars each. We know who to hire and who not to hire. We also leverage our relationships with our vendors to make sure you get the best and most efficient service at the best price.
Employing the Flight Crew
Under the Federal Aviation Regulations, the owner or lessor of an airplane cannot provide the aircraft and pilots absent a charter certificate. Also, the operator must be an individual or an operating company where the aircraft is operated "incidental to and within the scope of" the business of the company, and that business can't be operating the airplane. While the operator obtains the plane from the owner/lessor under a lease, it must employ or contract separately for the pilot(s).
We will arrange for our sister company, One Stop Pilots LLC, to employ your pilots, mechanic and/or flight attendant. You simply fund their compensation, benefits and pay a small fee – all collected by OSA and paid to OSP. You pick the people and OSP will give them a paycheck, medical, dental, and vision insurance, and a 401(k) plan with matching. If you need help selecting flight crew members, we’ll put you in touch with a qualified pilot staffing company and help facilitate the process.
Employing your pilots keeps them off your payroll. This could potentially provide a critical layer of liability protection in the event of an accident. It also keeps them out of the view of the rest of your core business, which is often desirable from an optics perspective. At the same time, you are able to assure that they get the benefits necessary to attract and retain them.
We will arrange for our sister company, One Stop Pilots LLC, to employ your pilots, mechanic and/or flight attendant. You simply fund their compensation, benefits and pay a small fee – all collected by OSA and paid to OSP. You pick the people and OSP will give them a paycheck, medical, dental, and vision insurance, and a 401(k) plan with matching. If you need help selecting flight crew members, we’ll put you in touch with a qualified pilot staffing company and help facilitate the process.
Employing your pilots keeps them off your payroll. This could potentially provide a critical layer of liability protection in the event of an accident. It also keeps them out of the view of the rest of your core business, which is often desirable from an optics perspective. At the same time, you are able to assure that they get the benefits necessary to attract and retain them.
Providing an Insurance Fleet Policy
As part of the one stop experience, we’ll add your aircraft to our fleet insurance policy. Our fleet insurance policy gives the benefit of a better policy than is generally attainable with just a single aircraft. This also gives you the benefits of a fleet policy that isn’t owned by the aircraft manager, who is likely to have a conflict of interest in the event the aircraft is damaged.
Importantly, having the aircraft on our fleet policy allows us to make sure the first line of defense between you and potentially catastrophic liability is handled correctly. Insurance companies often make mistakes in the way the policy is structured, and they usually don’t maximize the benefit of the policy to you without you knowing what to ask for.
Importantly, having the aircraft on our fleet policy allows us to make sure the first line of defense between you and potentially catastrophic liability is handled correctly. Insurance companies often make mistakes in the way the policy is structured, and they usually don’t maximize the benefit of the policy to you without you knowing what to ask for.
Interfacing with an Aircraft Broker
If you don’t have an aircraft broker, we can provide custom recommendations and retain them or introduce you to them if you prefer; otherwise we can work with your current aircraft broker. Depending on your preference, we can all three work as a team or we can act as your sole contact.
A good aircraft broker can save you money and go a long way towards making the deal go smoothly. A bad broker can cost you anywhere from tens of thousands – usually more like hundreds of thousands – of dollars to millions of dollars. Unfortunately, you often can’t tell by how much they charge or even their level of experience or success. If the worse end of the spectrum weren’t good at convincing high net worth individuals, executives and pilots that they are good guys, they wouldn’t still be in business. We will only put the brokers we are comfortable with in front of you; otherwise we’ll integrate whoever you choose into the team.
A good aircraft broker can save you money and go a long way towards making the deal go smoothly. A bad broker can cost you anywhere from tens of thousands – usually more like hundreds of thousands – of dollars to millions of dollars. Unfortunately, you often can’t tell by how much they charge or even their level of experience or success. If the worse end of the spectrum weren’t good at convincing high net worth individuals, executives and pilots that they are good guys, they wouldn’t still be in business. We will only put the brokers we are comfortable with in front of you; otherwise we’ll integrate whoever you choose into the team.
Interfacing with an Aviation Lawyer
If you don’t have an aviation law firm, we can provide custom recommendations and introduce you to them, as your lawyer should be retained directly for strategic reasons, and we can manage the relationship from there as your agent. If you would prefer it, we can work with your current aviation or general lawyer instead.
Having managed a leading transactional aviation law firm for many years, we are adept at helping aviation lawyers get you a better result.
Also, given that lawyers bill by the hour, efficiency saves money, and we are particularly efficient when it comes to communicating with lawyers. Realistically, the fact that they know that we know how much their services would normally cost should help manage legal costs as well. In any event, paying lawyers their legal rates for legal work, and paying us to do the rest, will inevitably save you money.
Having managed a leading transactional aviation law firm for many years, we are adept at helping aviation lawyers get you a better result.
Also, given that lawyers bill by the hour, efficiency saves money, and we are particularly efficient when it comes to communicating with lawyers. Realistically, the fact that they know that we know how much their services would normally cost should help manage legal costs as well. In any event, paying lawyers their legal rates for legal work, and paying us to do the rest, will inevitably save you money.
Retaining a Technical Representative
We will retain a technical representative to oversee the pre-purchase inspection on your behalf. Having a technical expert advocating for you with the inspection facility can save a great deal of money – possibly more than our entire fee. We will also translate the often technical information they provide into common English – or at least help make sense of it.
The seller will usually have their representative in the ear of the people at the inspection facility, so you want your representative in their other ear. This often determines whether any given inspection gets performed and the level of care used to correct the issues that are discovered.
The seller will usually have their representative in the ear of the people at the inspection facility, so you want your representative in their other ear. This often determines whether any given inspection gets performed and the level of care used to correct the issues that are discovered.
Lining Up and Managing Aircraft Financing
We will get proposals from lenders selected based on your preferences and handle any conversations. In addition to helping you find the right lender, we will work with them to keep them on a timeline and coordinate getting the appropriate documentation in place for filing with the FAA at closing in order to make sure the funds are in place to support a timely closing.
Aircraft financing can be surprisingly tricky. Without speaking the language, knowing what should be needed, and being able to agree on a reasonable timetable in advance, buyers often find themselves in the difficult position of not being ready for closing on time. We will make sure this doesn't happen.
Aircraft financing can be surprisingly tricky. Without speaking the language, knowing what should be needed, and being able to agree on a reasonable timetable in advance, buyers often find themselves in the difficult position of not being ready for closing on time. We will make sure this doesn't happen.
Liaising with the Aircraft Management Company
If you don’t have an aircraft management company, we can provide custom recommendations and facilitate the relationship with the company you select. We will liaise with them throughout the purchase process to make sure they are in position to support the aircraft upon closing.
Over time, you will spend a small fortune with your aircraft management company. It is a critical relationship. You entrust them with your baby when the plane is on the ground and your babies when your family is in the air. We will help you find the management company that best fits you, and we keep them informed so they can be in place when it is time to bring your plane home.
Over time, you will spend a small fortune with your aircraft management company. It is a critical relationship. You entrust them with your baby when the plane is on the ground and your babies when your family is in the air. We will help you find the management company that best fits you, and we keep them informed so they can be in place when it is time to bring your plane home.
Bookkeeping
Assuming, like most people, you end up in a leasing structure where you form an LLC that buys the plane and leases it back to its member and possibility others, you will need a bookkeeper to keep track of the monthly lease payments and the associated sales tax. While it is a real pain, it easily beats paying sales tax on the entire value of the aircraft up front, so people tend to quickly get their heads around having to file monthly sales tax returns and remit the tax.
It can be difficult to find someone who can do this well to take it on because it is a relatively small, albeit important, one-off job. For any one hundred people who buy a plane, generally no five of them use the same bookkeeper, and the vast majority of them get someone in-house to do it. This is the genesis of countless sales tax audits. We will also prepare the state and local tax returns for the LLC and help you remit sales tax on the lease payments. While this may not sound terribly important now, hiring someone to get it right will feel like a smart choice if you get audited.
It can be difficult to find someone who can do this well to take it on because it is a relatively small, albeit important, one-off job. For any one hundred people who buy a plane, generally no five of them use the same bookkeeper, and the vast majority of them get someone in-house to do it. This is the genesis of countless sales tax audits. We will also prepare the state and local tax returns for the LLC and help you remit sales tax on the lease payments. While this may not sound terribly important now, hiring someone to get it right will feel like a smart choice if you get audited.
Referring an Aviation Accountant
Very few accountants have any material amount of experience with accounting for private aircraft. This is something they are usually reluctant to admit. Even some of the biggest shops have limited depth in this area. We will introduce you to an accountant that specializes in aviation and that can work with your normal accountant on the aviation portion of your taxes.
Arranging an Ownership Trust
If you want or need an ownership trust for confidentiality purposes or to comply with citizenship requirements, we will arrange for an ownership trust to hold title to your aircraft in trust.
Putting the ownership of your aircraft in trust with a perfect stranger via a type of trust only used for the FAA can sound concerning. You may find yourself asking questions like: “Who should I pick as an owner trustee?”; “What do these agreements mean and why can’t I even negotiate them?”; “How do I make sure the agreements are in place when I need them?”; and “What is an ACC Legal Opinion, do I need one, and how do I get it?”. We can answer these questions for you. We will also make it seamless and assure all necessary agreements, documents and the ACC legal opinion are in place.
Putting the ownership of your aircraft in trust with a perfect stranger via a type of trust only used for the FAA can sound concerning. You may find yourself asking questions like: “Who should I pick as an owner trustee?”; “What do these agreements mean and why can’t I even negotiate them?”; “How do I make sure the agreements are in place when I need them?”; and “What is an ACC Legal Opinion, do I need one, and how do I get it?”. We can answer these questions for you. We will also make it seamless and assure all necessary agreements, documents and the ACC legal opinion are in place.
Managing Closing and Retaining an Escrow Agent
How confident are you that you are about to pick the right escrow agent in a field with virtually no regulatory oversight? Speaking from experience, there is a broad range of escrow agents out there that span from excellent to a little scary. With that said, we contract with the world's leading aviation escrow company and make sure all documents and funds are in place for a timely closing. We will also manage the closing process and conduct the closing.
We start off getting a title report right away, so if there are any title issues we can make sure seller gets in front of them early so your closing isn’t delayed. Similarly, not only will we shepherd the documents needed for the FAA and get you set up with the International Registry (required for domestic transactions as well), plus making sure any financing agreements and ownership trust agreements are in place, we’ll also stay on top of the seller to avoid any last-minute delays. We manage the details because we pride ourselves in smooth and timely closings.
We start off getting a title report right away, so if there are any title issues we can make sure seller gets in front of them early so your closing isn’t delayed. Similarly, not only will we shepherd the documents needed for the FAA and get you set up with the International Registry (required for domestic transactions as well), plus making sure any financing agreements and ownership trust agreements are in place, we’ll also stay on top of the seller to avoid any last-minute delays. We manage the details because we pride ourselves in smooth and timely closings.
Referring a Hangar Attorney
Hangar deals are usually either plain vanilla or rainbow flavored with lots of sprinkles and varying colors of icing. The vanilla deals are easy enough, but otherwise it can get complicated quickly. Worse yet, in a negotiation with the airport, the airport usually has a great deal of leverage. If you have a complicated hangar deal or a problem with the airport, we’ll bring in a specialist.
Consulting on Aviation Transaction and Tax Issues
We can consult on a full range of transactional issues outside of the scope of our general service. Naturally, questions arise throughout the process of a transaction that need analysis to provide our clients with the best possible answer. We are able to offer a consultation service to help address complicated transactional issues throughout the process. A separate quote can be provided for this service.
As with transactional consulting, there are many atypical tax questions and issues that can pop up in the middle of a deal. It is important you are receiving the best advice for your aircraft, location, and particular situation. We are able to offer tax consulting to our clients to help reliably put their mind at ease. A separate quote can be provided for this service as well.
As with transactional consulting, there are many atypical tax questions and issues that can pop up in the middle of a deal. It is important you are receiving the best advice for your aircraft, location, and particular situation. We are able to offer tax consulting to our clients to help reliably put their mind at ease. A separate quote can be provided for this service as well.
Consulting on California State Tax Exemptions
If the aircraft is subject to California sales/use tax, we will work with you to obtain an exemption from sales and use tax assuming that you are eligible.
This can save you almost 10% of the value of the aircraft in tax, but it must be done exactly right and it has to be well documented. We will make sure the delivery is structured properly and work with your team over the 6 or 12 month test period to amass and prepare the documentation necessary to create a document package supporting your exemption. We will then submit it to the BOE to obtain an exemption from the tax.
This can save you almost 10% of the value of the aircraft in tax, but it must be done exactly right and it has to be well documented. We will make sure the delivery is structured properly and work with your team over the 6 or 12 month test period to amass and prepare the documentation necessary to create a document package supporting your exemption. We will then submit it to the BOE to obtain an exemption from the tax.
Additional Information
Custom External ReferralsAlthough we have a dedicated team of vendors that function with us seamlessly, we recognize that sometimes having an option that fits best with your specific needs is important. For most of our vendors, we are able to refer you several choices to pick between if you want to be more involved in the process. With your preference chosen, we continue our normal work and integrate them into the deal.
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Preferred PersonnelWe know that some of our clients already have people who have been assisting them for years and would like to continue utilizing their help when it comes to acquiring an aircraft. We are here to serve you and make things as streamlined as possible, so we will integrate your already known vendors into the process and get them up to speed. Again, we want what is easiest for you.
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