Start an Aircraft Brokerage Business

1. 1

   Learn the aircraft transaction craft

   A jet sale involves market pricing against comparable aircraft, letters of intent, pre-purchase inspections at qualified maintenance facilities, escrow and title work through specialist companies, registry and lien checks, and often international tax and import questions. Nobody trusts a seven or eight figure asset to someone learning these steps live, so learn them inside an established brokerage, dealer, operator, or aviation law and escrow environment first.

2. 2

   Invest in the market data the trade runs on

   Professional brokers subscribe to fleet databases that track every business jet's ownership, history, and time on airframe, plus market data on asking prices and closings. These subscriptions are a real cost but they are the difference between quoting opinion and quoting the market. Your credibility with a seller starts with a data-backed valuation of their aircraft.

3. 3

   Choose a fleet niche

   The business jet fleet spans turboprops to ultra-long-range jets, and no new broker can know it all. Pick a segment (for example light jets and turboprops, where deal volume is higher and sellers are more approachable) and learn every serial number, operator, and recent transaction in it. Specialists win mandates over generalists.

4. 4

   Build professional standing

   There is no US government broker license, but the industry has trust structures: established dealer and broker associations accredit firms that meet ethical and process standards, and affiliation signals seriousness. Set up professional contracts, errors and omissions insurance, and relationships with escrow and title companies before your first deal, not during it.

5. 5

   Win a first mandate from your network

   First listings come from people who already trust you: owners you flew for, operators you worked with, business contacts upgrading or exiting. A sell-side mandate on a modest aircraft is the classic start. Price it honestly against the data, market it professionally, and treat the transaction process as your public audition.

6. 6

   Execute with escrow-grade discipline

   Use specialist escrow and title companies, document every stage, manage the pre-purchase inspection negotiation fairly, and communicate constantly with both sides. Published figures put commissions around 1 to 5 percent of aircraft price (with flat fees of $75,000 to $250,000 sometimes used on the largest aircraft), which means a single clean closing funds the next year of building.

7. 7

   Add acquisition advisory and repeat cycles

   Buy-side representation (finding, evaluating, and negotiating an aircraft for a purchaser) is the natural second product, often paid as a retainer plus success fee. Owners trade aircraft every few years, so every satisfied client is a future transaction. Senior brokers close a handful of deals a year; the compounding asset is the relationship list.

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Best for: Aviation-literate dealmakers with patience for long cycles and the discipline to build trust before revenue

Not for: This is not for anyone needing predictable near-term income, since even successful brokers may see months between closings. It is also not for the aviation-illiterate: without transaction craft and fleet knowledge, no owner will hand you a seven-figure asset to sell.