Advisory · Corporate
Corporate flight department and program review.
Whether the company owns aircraft, holds a share, buys cards, or charters ad hoc, the question is the same: does the structure still match how the executives actually fly, and what does it truly cost per hour? TRH answers it independently, for the board, the CFO, or the flight department itself.
Who it’s for
Who commissions a review
The CFO
Aviation is a visible line with an unclear denominator. The review produces the number finance actually needs: all-in cost per occupied hour, and what moves it.
The board or audit committee
Executive travel policy, personal use, and the choice between owning, sharing, and chartering need a defensible, independent basis on paper.
The flight department
Strong departments ask for benchmarking. The review compares the management arrangement, utilization, and cost structure against alternatives without an agenda about the outcome.
Companies at a transition
An aircraft aging out, a share coming up for renewal, a new executive team with a different footprint, a merger with two aviation arrangements.
Scope
What the review covers
Seven areas, applied to whatever the company holds: an aircraft under management, an in-house department, a share, cards, or charter.
- 01
Utilization analysis
Twelve months of flying: legs, hours, passengers, routes, lead time, peak exposure, and the split between business and personal use.
- 02
True all-in cost
Every fixed and variable cost, including capital, depreciation, crew, maintenance, management, fees, and taxes, divided by occupied hours. The figure the budget should carry.
- 03
Structure fit
Whether the current arrangement matches the pattern, and what a share, card, charter, or different aircraft would cost for the same flying.
- 04
Management agreement and vendor benchmarking
Fees, pass-through mark-ups, maintenance control, charter revenue terms, and owner access, benchmarked against the market. Fractional, card, and charter agreements reviewed the same way.
- 05
Contract terms and renewal
Escalation, minimums, peak rules, recovery, exit, and the notice windows that decide whether the company gets to choose.
- 06
Policy and governance
Travel policy, personal-use treatment, and approval thresholds documented so the arrangement is defensible to the board and auditors.
- 07
Recommendation
Hold, renegotiate, restructure, or move, with the economics behind each path, in a written brief for the finance function and the board.
Owned aircraft: the operating business inside the company
A company aircraft is an operating business with a small headcount, a large maintenance liability, and a residual value that moves with the market. Most companies run it through a management company under an agreement that decides more of the annual cost than the aircraft does: the fee, the pass-throughs and their mark-ups, maintenance approval, charter revenue and its split, and the company's own access. The review reads that agreement the way the finance function would read any vendor contract of similar size, and benchmarks it.
Where the company is deciding whether to own at all, or to replace an aircraft, the review models ownership against a large share, a blend, and charter on the company's actual pattern across the hold, including the exit.
Personal use and tax
Executive personal use of company aircraft carries tax and disclosure consequences that are technical and specific to the company. The review documents the usage split and the policy; the tax treatment itself belongs with the company's tax advisors, and the review is written to give them what they need.
How it works
Three steps, no obligation.
Scope and data
A conversation with the sponsor, then the agreements, twelve months of flight and cost data, and the policy documents.
The review
Utilization, all-in cost, structure fit, vendor benchmarking, contract terms, and governance, delivered as a written brief for finance and the board.
Execution
Renegotiation, restructuring, provider selection, or a sale or acquisition managed on the company's behalf, with counsel and tax advisors coordinated.
Where our role ends
TRH does not operate aircraft, manage aircraft, or employ crew; where the company needs a management company or a flight department structure, TRH helps design and select it. TRH does not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice; ownership structure, personal-use treatment, and disclosure belong with the company's qualified advisors, with whom we coordinate. TRH is paid by the company, sells no program, and discloses its role where it sources charter or supports a transaction.
Frequently asked questions
- What does a corporate flight department review produce?
- A written brief with twelve months of utilization, the true all-in cost per occupied hour, structure fit against alternatives, vendor and contract benchmarking, governance documentation, and a recommendation: hold, renegotiate, restructure, or move.
- Does the review apply if the company does not own an aircraft?
- Yes. Fractional shares, jet cards, memberships, and charter arrangements are reviewed the same way: utilization, all-in cost, contract terms, and fit.
- How is a management agreement benchmarked?
- By the fee, the pass-through costs and mark-ups, maintenance approval thresholds, charter revenue terms, owner access and priority, insurance, and termination terms, compared against the market and against alternatives.
- Who is the review written for?
- The finance function and the board, in language they can act on, with the technical detail the flight department and counsel need behind it.
- How does TRH handle personal-use tax questions?
- The review documents the usage split and the policy. Tax treatment and disclosure belong with the company's tax advisors, and the brief is written to give them what they need.
- How is TRH compensated?
- By the company. TRH sells no program and takes no referral fee from any provider or management company it evaluates. Where TRH sources charter or supports a transaction, that role and its economics are disclosed.
Commission an independent review.
Send the agreements and twelve months of flight and cost data. You'll get the all-in number, the benchmark, and a recommendation the board can act on.