Advisory · Independent advisor
An independent private aviation advisor, on your side of the table.
TRH Aviation represents the buyer's decision across charter, jet cards, fractional leases, fractional ownership, and whole-aircraft ownership. We are paid by clients, sell no program, and have spent fifteen years inside the companies whose contracts you are about to sign.
Who it’s for
Who hires an independent advisor
First-time buyers
You fly enough that charter invoices are adding up, and every conversation you have is with someone selling one answer.
Program holders at renewal
Your card, share, or lease is coming up for renewal and the escalated fee schedule arrived as an anniversary, not a negotiation.
Owners whose usage changed
The share or aircraft was sized to a forecast that the record has since disproved, in either direction.
Principals who want one accountable seat
You have a broker, a program salesperson, an attorney, and a CPA. None of them is paid to own the decision.
Scope
What the engagement covers
The work is more mechanical than mystique. A full engagement runs seven areas in roughly this order; a program review runs the ones that apply to what you already hold.
- 01
Usage and mission analysis
Twelve months of real trips: legs, hours, passengers, lead time, peak-day exposure. The single input that decides most structure questions.
- 02
Structure selection
The five access models modeled against that usage with the honest tradeoffs of each, including the conclusion that you should keep chartering, when that is the answer.
- 03
Economics, all-in
Every candidate normalized to one figure: all-in annual cost and cost per occupied hour, with capital, minimums, peak, taxes, and exit included.
- 04
Provider and program evaluation
Which programs and operators fit the mission, judged on terms, operating structure, and track record rather than brochures.
- 05
Contract terms and negotiation
The eight mechanics that decide cost, read against the market and your flying, and negotiated on your side of the paper.
- 06
Charter sourcing, when charter is right
Mission-matched sourcing across vetted Part 135 operators, quotes normalized like for like. This role and its economics are disclosed.
- 07
Renewal, review, and exit
The years after signing, where escalation drift, usage drift, renewal leverage, and remarketing quietly decide the real cost.
What independent means here
Everyone in private aviation represents something. A charter broker's revenue depends on you chartering. A fractional salesperson cannot recommend a competitor's program or negotiate their own contract against their employer. An aircraft broker is paid when the transaction closes. All of them can be excellent. None of them is structurally able to tell you that the thing they sell is wrong for you.
TRH Aviation's advisory engagements are paid by the client. TRH sells no share, card, or membership, and receives no referral fee from any provider it evaluates. Where TRH sources charter for a client or supports an acquisition or sale, that role and its economics are disclosed rather than hidden inside a recommendation. You should ask any advisor exactly how, and by whom, they are paid, and you should ask us.
Where the knowledge comes from
Fifteen years in private aviation sales and strategy: Flexjet, then Jet Edge, where I built the membership platform whose members later moved to VistaJet, with earlier years in finance. That history is where the contract knowledge comes from. It is on the record on the About page, and you should weigh it exactly as you would any practitioner's background.
It means the advice is grounded in how programs are actually priced, sold, and administered, not in how they are described. It also means I have sat on the other side of the table from buyers who arrived unprepared, and watched what that cost them.
How an engagement works
Three steps, no obligation.
A conversation
How you fly, what you hold, and what is in front of you. Half an hour, no charge, no product.
The analysis
Usage, structures, economics, and the contract in front of you, delivered as a written brief you can hand to counsel and to the family.
Representation
Negotiation, sourcing, and execution on your side of the table, through signing, renewal, or exit, for as long as you want a seat filled.
Where our role ends
TRH is not an air carrier and does not operate aircraft; charter flights are performed by certificated Part 135 operators. TRH is not a law firm or a tax advisor; legal and tax structure belong with qualified aviation counsel and tax advisors, and we coordinate with them rather than replace them. And TRH does not manage aircraft; where an owner needs a management company, we help select and negotiate with one.
Frequently asked questions
- What is an independent private aviation advisor?
- A representative for the buyer's side of private aviation decisions: which structure fits, from which provider, on what terms, at what all-in cost, with what exit. Paid by the client, with no program to sell.
- How is TRH Aviation paid?
- Advisory engagements are paid by the client. TRH sells no share, card, or membership and receives no referral fee from providers it evaluates. Where TRH sources charter or supports a transaction, that role and its economics are disclosed.
- Do I need an advisor if I already have an aviation attorney?
- The roles are complementary. Counsel reviews legal risk and enforceability. An advisor reviews the commercial terms against the market and your flying, and tells you whether it is a good deal.
- When is the right time to engage?
- Before a first commitment, before a renewal, when your usage has changed, and when exiting a structure. The most expensive time is after signing.
- Will you recommend charter if that is the right answer?
- Yes, and often do. The analysis comes before the recommendation. When charter is right, TRH can source it, and says so plainly rather than steering you toward a program.
- What is the first step?
- A conversation about how you fly and what you hold. Most relationships begin with a review of the program a client already has.
Talk to an advisor who sells nothing.
Half an hour on how you fly and what is in front of you. You'll leave knowing whether you need an engagement at all, and what it would cover if you do.