Frequently Asked Questions

The process begins before a single aircraft is evaluated. A first conversation with an OmniJet principal captures your mission profile — typical routes, passenger load, range requirements, and operational goals — alongside budget, timing, and registration jurisdiction. From there, we source qualifying aircraft across both the listed market and our off-market network, present a vetted shortlist with comparables and condition summaries, and represent your interests through Letter of Intent, pre-purchase inspection, negotiation, escrow, and closing. One principal from first conversation to closing day.

A pre-purchase inspection — PPI — is the buyer’s first full technical evaluation of the aircraft, conducted at a maintenance facility independent of the seller. It is not optional for any serious acquisition. The buyer selects the facility. OmniJet coordinates the inspection scope, reviews the discrepancy list against the aircraft’s known history, and represents the buyer through every resolution negotiation. The independence of the inspection facility is the foundation of an objective technical evaluation — and the detail that separates a clean transaction from one that isn’t.

The aircraft’s engines (and sometimes airframe systems) are covered under an hourly maintenance program — Honeywell MSP, JSSI, Pratt & Whitney Power Advantage / EAP, Rolls-Royce CorporateCare / TAP Elite, Bombardier Smart Parts, etc. Program enrollment shifts maintenance cost from unpredictable to predictable, raises residual value materially, and makes the aircraft easier to finance.

From a signed Letter of Intent to closing, most transactions take 30 to 60 days. The pre-purchase inspection is typically the longest variable — one to three weeks depending on aircraft size, facility availability, and discrepancy scope. International closings, title complexity, or financing can extend the timeline. OmniJet manages every stage actively — inspection coordination, escrow, documentation, and title — so nothing sits idle waiting on a third party.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 2025, reinstated 100% bonus depreciation permanently for new and used aircraft acquired and placed in service after January 20, 2025. The 50% business-use threshold (with 25% qualified business use) still applies. Acquisitions completed before year-end qualify for the full deduction. We coordinate with your aviation attorney and tax advisor; we do not give tax advice.

Under exclusive engagement, one broker represents the aircraft and runs the sale process. Under open listing, multiple brokers compete on the same aircraft. The category data is consistent: open listings erode price, dilute message, and leak confidentiality. Exclusive engagement preserves price discipline and positioning.

Engagement letter → pricing read against current market data → photography and listing → exclusive marketing across our nine offices and trade channels → inquiry handling and qualification → LOI → neutral-facility PPI → negotiation → escrow → closing. Same principal from engagement through closing.

The fee is set in the engagement letter and disclosed up front, including any other interest we hold.

Time-on-market depends on aircraft type, condition, program-enrollment status, and pricing discipline. Late-model program-enrolled super-mid and large-cabin aircraft are currently in tight supply; commodity inventory takes longer. We provide a market-grounded estimate at engagement.

Yes. We coordinate non-citizen trust structures for international buyers as standard practice. A US-citizen trustee holds legal title; the beneficial owner — you — operates the aircraft. The trust agreement is filed with the FAA as public record. See the Aircraft Trust page for the operational walkthrough.

Required for international aircraft movements. We handle EEI filings (Census Bureau) and customs export documentation (CBP) as part of the transaction. Failure to comply with EEI rules can carry criminal penalties — this is not a check-the-box step.

The FAA registry has bilateral agreements with 48 countries, which support N-registered aircraft operating in those jurisdictions. Most international buyers retain N-registration rather than transfer to a foreign registry; the trust structure makes this practical.

OmniJet has operated under the same family ownership since 1963 — three generations of Hilmer leadership, every transaction run by a named principal from first conversation to closing. The firm has been a continuous NBAA member since 1966. In six decades of transactions — including some of the most high-profile aircraft sales in the industry’s history — the clients who return, refer, and transact again are the credential no accreditation body can issue. Trust in this business is built one transaction at a time. Sixty years of them is the record.

At OmniJet, the principal who takes the first call runs the engagement through closing. The market search, the shortlist, the negotiation, the inspection, the closing call — one person, start to finish. The relationship doesn’t change hands. The standard doesn’t either.

Since 1963, OmniJet has completed over 2,000 aircraft transactions across every cabin class — piston through large-cabin business jet — and six continents. The transaction record includes some of the most recognized aircraft sales in private aviation history, among them Frank Sinatra’s Gulfstream II, Elvis Presley’s Gulfstream G-I and Lisa Marie, Hugh Hefner’s Playboy DC-9, and a Boeing 707 leased to Ross Perot for the 1979 EDS-Tehran rescue — chronicled in Ken Follett’s On Wings of Eagles. The history is not decoration. It reflects sixty years of operating at the highest level of the market.

OmniJet represents both buyers and sellers — but not both sides of the same transaction without disclosure. Representation structure and any interests OmniJet holds in a transaction are stated in the engagement letter before anything moves forward. A buyer client knows who OmniJet represents. A seller client knows the same. The engagement letter is where that is defined — not assumed.

Confidentiality is standard practice, not an add-on. Serial numbers, technical records, and ownership details are not disclosed to prospective buyers until the engagement is established and the inquiry is qualified. For sellers who require complete discretion — no public listing, no market exposure — OmniJet’s off-market network allows the aircraft to be presented directly to qualified buyers without the aircraft ever appearing on a public platform. The transaction stays between principals.