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Hiring a Ferry Service: Cost Varies By Complexity

It seems that one of the branches of Murphys Law, Aviation Division, takes great glee in occasionally causing an aircraft and its owner to be geographically separated under circumstances where the owner needs outside help to achieve reunification. Thats where aircraft delivery companies can make aeronautical life much easier for owners. Whether your machine needs to be moved a few hundred miles or halfway around the world, there are companies that exist to provide that service.

It seems that one of the branches of Murphy’s Law, Aviation Division, takes great glee in occasionally causing an aircraft and its owner to be geographically separated under circumstances where the owner needs outside help to achieve reunification. That’s where aircraft delivery companies can make aeronautical life much easier for owners. Whether your machine needs to be moved a few hundred miles or halfway around the world, there are companies that exist to provide that service.

Aircraft delivery services are not regulated, so anyone with at least a commercial pilot certificate can offer to ferry airplanes. In preparing this article we found more than 40 companies offering aircraft delivery services. We called and/or emailed a representative sample and spoke with companies that routinely need aircraft delivered. From our research, we put together some guidelines as to how to approach arranging for a professional service to ferry your airplane, what you should expect from that service and what you can expect it to cost.

Rick Durden

Senior Editor Rick Durden has written for Aviation Consumer since 1994 and specializes in aviation law. Rick is an active CFII and holds an ATP with type ratings in the Douglas DC-3 and Cessna Citation. He is the author of The Thinking Pilot’s Flight Manual or, How to Survive Flying Little Airplanes and Have a Ball Doing It, Vols. 1 & 2.