Pre-Owned Aircraft Financing
Most aircraft are bought used, and the financing question is rarely the airframe — it is the transaction. Pre-buy inspection, escrow, title and lien search, import and registration all have to happen in a particular order, and financing that ignores that sequence is financing that arrives late.
How we structure it.
Acquisition Loan
Structured around the closing sequence rather than a delivery date, so funds are in escrow when the inspection clears and title is ready to move.
Acquisition Plus Remediation
One schedule covering the aircraft and the work the pre-buy identifies, which is how a buyer avoids negotiating a discount and then paying for the fix out of pocket anyway.
Operating Lease
Available on used aircraft where the type has a well-understood residual position, which is more often than buyers assume.
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Used aircraft purchases from dealers, brokers, and private sellers
Pre-buy inspection and any discrepancies it turns up
Escrow, title search, and lien clearance
Records reconstruction and log review
Import, de-registration, and registration costs
Upgrades and compliance work completed at acquisition
What the desk reads.
Airframe and engine times, and program status
Completeness and continuity of the maintenance records
Damage history and the quality of the repairs
Where the aircraft has been operated and registered
The pre-buy inspection findings and how they are resolved
Title, lien position, and escrow arrangements
Asked before the term sheet.
Is there an age cutoff on a used aircraft?
No blanket one. Aircraft are assessed on condition, program status, and records rather than on a year, and a well-documented older airframe frequently finances more comfortably than a younger one with gaps in its history. What limits a term is uncertainty about the asset, not its age.
When in the transaction should financing be arranged?
Before the pre-buy, not after. The inspection often produces a negotiation, and a buyer who already knows what they can fund — including remediation — is in a far better position than one waiting to find out. It also means escrow can be funded without adding days to the closing.
What happens if the pre-buy finds something significant?
That is what the inspection is for, and it is usually a negotiation rather than a dead deal. The work can frequently be folded into the same schedule, so the aircraft is bought and made right in one transaction instead of the buyer absorbing the repair after closing.
Related financing
The rest of the aviation desk's coverage — assets, components, and ownership programs.
Avionics Upgrade Financing
Finance a panel retrofit or mandate compliance separately from the airframe — flight deck upgrades, connectivity, and the downtime that comes with them.
Engine Overhaul Financing
Finance a scheduled overhaul, hot section, or engine replacement — the largest predictable event in an aircraft's life, paid over its next run rather than in one bill.
Ground Support Equipment Financing
Finance GSE and hangar equipment for FBOs and flight departments — tugs, GPUs, de-icing, fuel trucks, and the tooling behind a working ramp.
Tell us about the aircraft. We’ll engineer the rest.
Confidential response within one business day.
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