Progress Payment Financing
An aircraft on order is paid for long before it exists. Manufacturers draw deposits against build milestones across months or years, and a buyer funding those from working capital has capital tied up in an asset they cannot yet fly, insure, or borrow against in the ordinary way.
The operations this fits.
New aircraft on order with a manufacturer
Buyers funding deposits across build milestones
Completion and interior center payments
Positions being taken over from another buyer
Conversion to permanent financing at delivery
How the program is structured.
Milestone Draws
Funding released against each manufacturer milestone as it falls due, so the buyer meets the build schedule without holding cash against dates months apart.
Deposit to Delivery, Gap-Free
A single arrangement covering the whole pre-delivery period, which avoids the gap that appears when each milestone is treated as a separate problem to solve.
Conversion at Delivery
Pre-delivery funding rolls into permanent financing when the aircraft is accepted, rather than becoming a refinancing exercise at the moment of delivery.
Not sure which fits?
Bring us the aircraft and the mission — we’ll model the alternatives side by side.
Book a ConsultationWhat the desk reads.
The purchase agreement and its milestone schedule
The manufacturer, the position, and the delivery slot
The buyer's financial position across the build period
Completion and interior scope, where separate
What permanent financing at delivery will look like
How the aircraft will be held and operated once delivered
Asked before the term sheet.
How is this different from financing the aircraft itself?
There is no aircraft yet. Security is the buyer's position under the purchase agreement rather than an airframe, so the analysis rests on the contract, the manufacturer, and the buyer — and it is arranged before the build rather than at delivery. Our finance and leasing page covers the permanent structures this converts into.
Should pre-delivery and permanent financing be arranged together?
It is by far the cleaner approach. Arranging them separately means negotiating permanent terms at the moment the aircraft is due, with a delivery date and a manufacturer's schedule applying pressure. Settling both at the outset removes that from the delivery week entirely.
What happens if the delivery slips?
Slippage is common enough that it should be anticipated rather than treated as an exception. Build and completion schedules move, and an arrangement written with that in mind absorbs a shifted date without requiring the whole structure to be renegotiated.
Related financing
The rest of the aviation desk's coverage — assets, components, and ownership programs.
Jet Financing
Private jet financing for light, midsize, super-mid, and heavy aircraft — acquisition loans, operating leases, and structures shaped to hold period and mission.
Turboprop Financing
Financing for single and twin turboprops — cabin-class, utility, and special-mission aircraft, structured around utilization and operating economics.
Piston Aircraft Financing
Financing for certified piston singles and twins — including high-performance and complex aircraft, with engine and avionics condition at the center of the analysis.
Tell us about the aircraft. We’ll engineer the rest.
Confidential response within one business day.
Book a Consultation