Navigate the hidden pitfalls of private aviation by uncovering unexpected maintenance costs, evaluating management agreements, and protecting your investment from costly deception.
Aircraft ownership presents a unique combination of legal, operational, regulatory, and commercial risks. While acquisition negotiations often focus on purchase price and transaction structure, many of the most significant disputes emerge long after the deal has closed. Issues relating to maintenance obligations, aircraft management arrangements, operational oversight, regulatory compliance, and misrepresentations concerning aircraft condition or history can expose owners, operators, financiers, and advisers to substantial financial and legal consequences.
As aircraft ownership structures become increasingly sophisticated, involving management companies, fractional ownership arrangements, leasing structures, and cross-border operations, understanding the allocation of responsibilities and liabilities is more important than ever. Legal advisers must navigate a complex landscape that combines contract law, aviation regulation, due diligence obligations, risk management, and dispute resolution considerations.
This session examines the three critical areas that most commonly give rise to legal and commercial challenges in aircraft ownership: maintenance, management, and misrepresentation. Participants will gain practical insight into risk allocation, contractual protections, operational oversight, and the lessons that can be learned from disputes arising across the aircraft ownership lifecycle.
Key Topics Discussed:
Aviation Attorney | Aircraft Transactions & Regulatory Counsel
Forrest Owens spent his formative years in Indiana. Mr. Owens attended Vincennes University where he focused his studies on aviation technology and obtained Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) as well as private pilot licenses, graduating with an A.S. in 1998.  Mr. Owens subsequently attended Indiana University Kelley School of Business where he majored in Finance with a minor in Economics, completing a B.S. in 2001.  During the course of undergraduate study, Mr. Owens worked full-time for a leading aircraft turbine engine manufacturer based in Indianapolis as well as a regional airline and an internationally recognized aviation centered freight company.  Mr. Owens attended law school at Valparaiso University where he graduated with a J.D. in 2005.  Before forming Aviation Legal Counsel, Mr. Owens spent over ten years focused on aviation related legal matters with boutique firms. Mr. Owens has acted as counsel in the purchase and sale of hundreds of aircraft transactions ranging from experimental home-built aircraft to Gulfstream 550 aircraft.  Mr. Owens has worked with every major manufacturer of turbine powered corporate aircraft.  Mr. Owens has also been involved in the merger and acquisition of many aviation related businesses.  Mr. Owens practice concentrates on aircraft and aviation related transactions, cross-border transactions, airman defense before the FAA and Department of Transportation, airport real estate and land use, and civil litigation.  Mr. Owens formed Aviation Legal Counsel in 2017.
