What does an aircraft management company do?
An aircraft management company runs crew, maintenance, compliance and scheduling for a private aircraft, for a fee. What that covers, and what it costs.
An aircraft management company runs the crew, maintenance, compliance and scheduling of a private aircraft under contract, for a fee. Most privately owned aircraft large enough to carry professional crew are run day to day by one rather than by the owner directly, much as a superyacht is. WhichFlagToFly sets out what the company does and what the market publishes about the fee.
What does an aircraft management company manage?Link to this section
A management company typically supplies and administers flight crew, handles scheduling and dispatch, oversees the maintenance program in coordination with whoever holds continuing airworthiness responsibility for the aircraft, tracks the insurance and compliance renewals a registered aircraft needs to keep current, and runs the accounting for the aircraft's own operating costs. Where the aircraft also flies for other operators under charter, the manager typically runs that side of the business too, under its own separate agreement.
How much does aircraft management cost per year?Link to this section
Management is charged as a fixed monthly retainer scaled to cabin size, with fuel, crew pay, hangarage, insurance and maintenance passing through at cost on top. The positions below are market norms that do not vary by register, each carrying its own currency and its source. A manager can put a proposal against a specific aircraft and scope of work.
| What is charged | Published market position |
|---|---|
| Management fee | Managers typically charge a fixed monthly retainer scaled to cabin size, from low four figures a month for a light jet to roughly US$10,000 to 12,000 for a large cabin, with charter revenue usually split 85/15 in the owner's favor.Business Jet Traveler - Jeff Wieand, What You Need to Know About Aircraft Management Agreements (September 2022)www.bjtonline.comRetrieved 2026-09-01Effective 2022-09-06Corroborating source, not the register's own publicationOpen sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
| What the retainer covers | The monthly retainer typically covers dispatch, flight planning, crew oversight, compliance and the safety program, while fuel, insurance, hangarage, crew pay, handling and maintenance normally pass through at cost with no mark-up.Business Jet Traveler - Jeff Wieand, What You Need to Know About Aircraft Management Agreements (September 2022)www.bjtonline.comRetrieved 2026-09-01Effective 2022-09-06Corroborating source, not the register's own publicationOpen sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
| Crew employment under the mandate | Under a management mandate the manager normally hires, trains, employs and pays the crew and bills those costs through at cost, with accrued leave and severance usually falling to the owner when the mandate ends.Business Jet Traveler - Jeff Wieand, What You Need to Know About Aircraft Management Agreements (September 2022)www.bjtonline.comRetrieved 2026-09-01Effective 2022-09-06Corroborating source, not the register's own publicationOpen sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
How does management interact with CAMO and importation?Link to this section
Continuing airworthiness management is usually coordinated closely with the manager even where a separate organization formally holds the CAMO approval, since the two functions plan the same maintenance calendar. See does a private aircraft need a CAMO for how that relationship works, and where an aircraft is newly imported, the flag-by-flag position at the aircraft flag comparison and aircraft registry comparison.
How do you choose and switch managers?Link to this section
The right manager depends on the aircraft's registry, whether it flies charter as well as private, and how closely the owner wants to stay involved, not on which company manages the largest fleet. Switching managers is routine in the industry and is mostly a matter of notice periods and handover of records and approvals rather than a fresh start. This page is informational, not advice, and does not recommend a specific management company.
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