Aircraft management
How to choose an aircraft detailing company for your fleet
When choosing an aircraft detailing vendor for a flight department or aircraft management company, ask each crew to quote the same aircraft, location, and handoff time. Compare what is included, who can approve changes, and what record the owner will receive. A trial detail on one tail gives you a way to judge the work before discussing recurring fleet service.
Can the crew work at our hangar?
Start with the facility where you actually need service. Ask the FBO or hangar manager what a visiting vendor needs to provide. If the facility requests a certificate of insurance, send its requirements to the detailer and have the facility confirm acceptance before booking. Give the detailer the aircraft model and ask for a reference or an example of comparable work that the customer has agreed to share.
What will the owner be paying for?
Send each candidate the same brief. For example, ask for the cabin seats, tables, and aisle carpet on one jet, with a separate price for exterior work. Ask whether travel and access arrangements affect the price. If the crew finds something outside the scope, name the person who can approve the extra cost. That gives dispatch and accounting the same version of the job. See what goes into an aircraft detailing quote.
How will the pilot know the job is finished?
Ask who calls the pilot if a late arrival cuts the available ground time in half. Agree on the first item to keep and the first to defer. At handoff, walk the original scope with the crew and record any open item against the aircraft. Sundown checks in with the pilot and photographs the aircraft before and after a detail. Tell us who should receive the photos and which views your operator permits.
What changes when you add a second aircraft?
A fleet detailing schedule needs each tail’s home airport, usable ground windows, cabin preferences, and billing contact. An owner may want a quiet cabin reset after each trip and exterior work only by approval. Record those as separate instructions. After the first visit, compare the invoice with the quote and ask the pilot whether the crew returned the aircraft at the agreed time.
For a Texas fleet inquiry, send Sundown the first aircraft model and airport, the next open hangar window, and the number of other aircraft you’re considering. Request an aircraft detailing quote.