Private Aviation Law
Aircraft transactions, ownership structures, management agreements, and crew contracts. Counsel for owners, operators, and aviation businesses, grounded in how the deals actually work.
The Practice
Private aviation runs on documents most owners only see once. The aircraft purchase agreement, the management contract, the dry lease, the registration paperwork. Each is drafted by someone whose interests are not yours, and each carries terms that quietly shape liability, tax, and control for years.
Lawyers in this practice handle the transactional and business-side work that keeps an aircraft operating cleanly. Structuring the purchase, forming the ownership entity, reviewing the management agreement, papering the crew relationships, and coordinating the closing with the escrow and title agents. The work is practical and commercial, built around how owners and operators actually use their aircraft.
The goal is straightforward. Get the foundational documents right so the aircraft is an asset, not a liability, and stay on call for the next transaction when it comes.
Why It Matters
Purchase agreements, management contracts, and charter arrangements are drafted by the seller, the broker, or the operator. The buyer signs the version handed to them. A careful review surfaces the terms worth negotiating before signature.
Lien searches, escrow mechanics, and FAA registration leave little room for error. A missed detail at closing can become an ownership or financing problem years later. Lawyers coordinate with outside escrow and title companies so the paperwork holds.
Sales and use tax on an aircraft can reach six figures, and the rules differ by state of purchase, base, and use. Structure decided early, in coordination with your tax advisor, changes the number.
How ownership is held determines who is exposed when something goes wrong. The right entity structure isolates the aircraft from personal and business assets.
The line between Part 91 and Part 135 operations, and between a dry lease and a wet lease, carries real consequences. The documents have to match how the aircraft is actually flown.
A management agreement signed badly costs money every month it stays in force. A poorly structured ownership entity takes years to unwind. Getting the foundational documents right saves the next several deals.
Services
Nine service areas covering the transactional and business-side legal work most relevant to aircraft owners, operators, and aviation companies. Engagements are scoped to the matter, ongoing counsel is available for clients with active fleets.
Before the aircraft changes hands, the agreement has to protect the buyer. Lawyers draft and review purchase agreements, letters of intent, deposit and pre-buy contingencies, and coordinate the closing with outside escrow and title companies so the transaction holds up.
How you hold an aircraft shapes liability, tax, and registration. Lawyers form the ownership entities (LLCs, trusts, and holding structures) that isolate the asset and match the way the aircraft will be operated.
Aircraft management and charter contracts are written by the operator. Lawyers review them on the owner's side: revenue share, scheduling priority, maintenance responsibility, insurance, and the terms that govern leaving the arrangement.
Whether you are leasing the aircraft out, leasing one in, or financing a purchase, the documents set the terms of the relationship. Lawyers structure dry and wet leases and review lender documentation and security interests.
Pilots and crew can be employees or contractors, and the distinction matters for tax, liability, and control. Lawyers draft the crew agreements, training cost provisions, and policies that keep the flight department on solid footing.
An aircraft generates a stack of recurring contracts. Lawyers review the maintenance agreements, hangar leases, fuel and FBO contracts, and warranty terms that quietly allocate cost and risk over the life of the aircraft.
Sales and use tax, depreciation treatment, and multi-state registration can swing the economics of a purchase. Lawyers structure the transaction in coordination with your tax advisor so the tax position is built in from the start.
Sharing an aircraft works when the agreement is clear. Lawyers structure fractional program participation and co-ownership arrangements: cost sharing, scheduling, maintenance responsibility, and the terms for exiting cleanly.
For charter operators, FBOs, and aviation service companies, the business itself needs the same care as the aircraft. Lawyers handle entity structuring, acquisitions, fleet transactions, and succession planning for aviation businesses.
Who We Work With
Management contracts, charter arrangements, crew agreements, and the operational documents that keep a fleet compliant and profitable.
Individuals and businesses buying or selling aircraft. Purchase agreements, ownership structures, coordination with outside escrow companies, and the tax planning that goes with a major asset.
Entity structuring, crew employment, vendor contracts, and the governance that keeps a company aircraft operating cleanly.
FBOs, maintenance organizations, and service companies. Customer agreements, vendor contracts, leases, and business-side counsel.
Program agreements, co-ownership structures, cost-sharing terms, and the documents that make shared ownership work.
Entity formation, financing documents, and the foundational contracts new aviation businesses need to get off the ground.
How It Works
Most engagements start with a single transaction or contract. The relationship grows from there, or doesn't, depending on what you need.
01
Your lawyer learns the aircraft, the intended use, the ownership goals, and what's on the table. This is the conversation that shapes the structure.
45-60 minutes
02
Lawyers review the purchase agreement or management contract on the table, or draft the one you need. Plain-English summary of the risks and the terms worth negotiating.
3-7 business days
03
Lawyers handle the back-and-forth with the seller's or operator's counsel, or sit beside you while you negotiate. You keep the relationship; the lawyer holds the legal line.
Varies by deal
04
Final review, signature, closing coordination with outside escrow and title companies, and the entity and registration filings the transaction requires. Documents land in your MyRelevant portal.
1-3 business days
05
Most aviation clients come back. Lawyers stay on call for the next acquisition, the lease renewal, the management contract that needs revisiting, and the fleet expansion down the road.
Ongoing
Client Portal
MyRelevant is the client portal for managing the legal side of aircraft ownership. Documents in one place, renewal alerts before lease and management terms expire, direct messaging with your lawyer, and the audit trail every owner eventually wishes they had.
Every purchase agreement, lease, and management contract in one place. Searchable, dated, and accessible from anywhere.
Automatic alerts before lease terms expire, management contracts auto-renew, or registration deadlines arrive.
Send a contract for a quick read without scheduling a meeting. Most reviews come back in two to three business days.
Purchase agreements, ownership documents, and sensitive correspondence stored with the security a major asset requires.
Message your lawyer directly through the portal — direct answers without waiting on callbacks.
Active acquisitions, pending signatures, and recent closings tracked in one view so nothing falls through.
Frequently Asked
For any meaningful purchase, yes. The purchase agreement, the deposit and pre-buy contingencies, the lien review, the escrow mechanics, and the FAA registration all carry risk if handled loosely. A lawyer's involvement is modest against the size of the asset.
It depends on how the aircraft will be used, your liability concerns, and your tax position. Common structures include single-member LLCs, trusts, and holding arrangements. Your lawyer walks through the tradeoffs and sets up the structure that fits.
A dry lease is the aircraft alone; a wet lease includes crew. The distinction affects operational control and which regulations apply. Getting the documentation wrong can recharacterize the operation, so the lease has to match how the aircraft is actually flown.
Yes, on the owner's side. Management agreements set revenue share, scheduling priority, maintenance responsibility, insurance, and termination terms. These are drafted by the operator, and a careful review surfaces what's worth negotiating before you sign.
Lawyers structure the transaction with the tax consequences in mind and coordinate with your tax advisor on sales and use tax, registration, and depreciation. The structure is best decided before closing, not after.
Lawyers draft pilot employment and contractor agreements, training cost reimbursement provisions, and crew policies. The employee-versus-contractor distinction matters for tax, liability, and control, and the documents should reflect the right one.
Yes. For charter operators, FBOs, and aviation service companies, lawyers handle entity structuring, business acquisitions and sales, fleet transactions, and succession planning, all on the transactional and business side.
Related Services
Next Steps
Schedule a confidential consultation. The first call is a conversation about the transaction in front of you, how it's typically structured, and what's worth getting right before you sign.
State Disclosures
Virginia: Legal services in Virginia are provided by independently owned and operated Virginia law firms doing business as Relevant Law. The responsible licensed Virginia lawyer and office address for each Virginia location are listed on that location's office page.
Washington: The Supreme Court of Washington does not recognize specialties in the practice of law, and no representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
Relevant Law offices are independently owned and operated by licensed attorneys.