Fort Lauderdale Aircraft Dry Lease Lawyer

Every aircraft deal reflects how you operate and what matters to your business. If you need an aircraft dry lease lawyer in Fort Lauderdale, our team drafts precise agreements that protect your schedule and investment.

At Aero Law Center, you work with a Fort Lauderdale aircraft transaction lawyer who understands both aviation and business. With over 50 years in aviation law, we help clients move from first draft to closing with straightforward guidance and reliable follow-through.

We advise South Florida aviation clients on the legal and documentation standards that apply across airports such as FLL, FXE, OPF, and PBI, with counsel focused on sound legal structuring and defensible records

Aero Law Center services aviation businesses globally for all of your aviation business needs.

Fort Lauderdale Dry Lease Fundamentals

Dry leases give the lessee full control over operations instead of the lessor. The lessee takes care of hiring the crew, purchasing fuel, and managing daily operations. This setup requires clear contracts and records that align with how you fly.

Our team creates agreements tailored to your needs. We ensure you understand who handles possession, everyday decisions, and payment terms based on flight hours, usage cycles, or monthly rates. Just one section in the agreement can determine who has authority when the aircraft is grounded due to maintenance.

You also get real-world advice from a Fort Lauderdale aviation lawyer. They understand how FAA requirements are typically applied when these agreements are reviewed. We match your manuals, insurance requirements, and dispatch procedures with your flight records, making sure everything adds up.

Fort Lauderdale Transactions: What a Dry Lease Should Cover

A short, focused lease prevents friction later. We tailor clauses to your aircraft, routes, and financial picture, then we cut bloat that slows signatures.

The provisions we address include the following:

Operational control and dispatch authority
Term length, extensions, and early-out mechanics
Payment structure tied to hours, cycles, or months
Maintenance responsibilities and records access
Insurance limits, named insureds, and waivers
Substitution rights, ferry flights, and permitted uses
Return conditions, cosmetics, and interior standards
Remedies, cure periods, and default sequence

Tight drafting supports clean handoffs. Your team feels the difference the first time someone reaches for the lease during a tough call. Our role is to structure and document dry lease agreements so legal responsibility and risk allocation are clear, while operational decisions remain with the operator.

Whether it’s aircraft transactions, commercial litigation, or compliance, we excel at creating solutions to unique challenges.

FAA Alignment at FLL, FXE, OPF, and PBI

Regulators watch operational control closely. Our attorneys match contract language to how your crews release flights, record MEL actions, and store documents. Inspectors see consistent information across the lease, the manuals, and the logs.

Part 91 allows owner flights under your control. Part 135 brings higher bar requirements that change training, records, and dispatch. We show where a charter plan changes the lease and the playbook that crews follow.

Audit days don’t have to bring stress. We build checklists that point to the right pages and cut the guesswork. With clear documentation and aligned procedures, your chief pilot and DOM answer questions confidently.

Insurance, Risk, and Dispatch Readiness in Broward County

Insurance influences every lease from the start. Our team sets coverage limits that match hull value, route structure, and passenger mix. Certificates name the right parties, endorsements stay current, and claims instructions travel with the aircraft.

When damage occurs, timing still matters. The lease is drafted to address responsibility and authority in advance, so insurance, repairs, and scheduling expectations are resolved through the agreement rather than in the moment.

Payment terms fit real operations. Grace periods account for AOG realities, and cure provisions prevent minor delays from escalating into default letters.

Records, Maintenance, and Return Conditions

A dry lease succeeds on paper as much as it does in flight. We set record access and delivery packages that match your maintenance program and your buyer’s expectations.

Items we define in every lease include:

Work scope approvals and sign-off standards.
Time-controlled items and pooling rules.
SB and AD treatment during the term.
Interior, paint, and cosmetic tolerance bands.
End-of-term inspection rights and costs.

With those points locked, redelivery day feels like a handoff instead of a fight. An aircraft dry lease attorney in Fort Lauderdale keeps the checklist short and the schedule intact.

Cross-Border Dry Leases from Fort Lauderdale

International arrangements add registration, tax, and customs steps. Our team stages documents with escrow and the customs broker so papers meet the aircraft at the right place and time. Forms should never be the reason an aircraft sits idle.

Foreign law sometimes affects the deal. Our attorneys coordinate with local counsel when a registry or tax authority requires a specific format or stamp. You receive one playbook and one point of contact from start to finish.

Lease terms account for currency risk and sanctions checks. Your team knows which routes demand extra diligence and which payments need additional documentation.

Owner, Lessee, and Lender Alignment

Three parties often move in different directions. Our Fort Lauderdale aircraft dry lease lawyers bring everyone to the table early and craft remedies that solve problems before they escalate. Lenders get the protections they expect without clauses that disrupt daily operations.

The lessee needs stability to plan flights and manage crews, while the lessor needs confidence in maintenance and redelivery. Our attorneys establish reporting, access, and dispute steps that keep the process efficient and predictable.

A clear amendment plan keeps your lease current. Fleets evolve, schedules shift, and new missions emerge, so updates happen quickly without rebuilding the entire agreement.

Working with an Aircraft Dry Lease Lawyer in Fort Lauderdale

Our attorneys build a kickoff plan that defines milestones, deliverables, and the specific risks tied to your operation. Each draft functions as a working document you can use immediately. Every clause has a purpose, and every deadline supports your schedule.

Coordination across South Florida stays seamless. Our team manages communication with brokers, lenders, insurers, and maintenance providers, keeping everyone aligned. You receive timely updates, concise calls, and documents that move at the same pace as your operation.

Our AeroShield™ subscription gives operators and shops reliable access to aviation counsel throughout the year. Predictable legal hours simplify audits, deliveries, renewals, and the unexpected details that come with ownership.

Move Forward With the Right Dry Lease Strategy

If you need an aircraft dry lease lawyer in Fort Lauderdale, Aero Law Center meets you where you operate and moves at your pace. Your program runs on uptime, clean records, and contracts that fit how you fly.

Tell us what you’re working toward and what stands in the way. Our attorneys take the time to understand your operation and craft a plan that fits your goals, backed by experience in more than $1 billion in aviation transactions.

Reach out for a consultation. You set the priorities, and we drive the milestones so your lease supports the aircraft, the mission, and your people.

Aero Law Center’s main office is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Our attorneys are licensed in Florida, New York, and Michigan. For state-specific legal issues outside those jurisdictions, we coordinate with trusted local counsel while continuing to provide federal aviation law guidance.

The sooner you contact our team, the sooner we can put our years of expertise to use and ease you through the process.

Frequently Asked Questions & Support

The Federal Aviation Administration, or the “FAA” is an arm of the Department of Transportation (DOT). It controls aviation business matters, including air traffic management and the certification of personnel and aircraft. The FAA sets the standard for airport conditions and protects U.S. assets during the launch of commercial space vehicles. The FAA issues directives and legal regulations to ensure the safety of all airplanes, including mandated correction for any unsafe conditions in an aircraft. This could include an aircraft’s plane, engine, propeller, or appliance. All operators must conduct business compliantly and follow the FAA’s guidance and provisions, and any certifications must be present in the aircraft.

An FBO stands for Fixed Base Operator (FBO). FBOs operate like private terminals and facilitate private jet and charter operations. Commercial companies are given access by an airport to work on the grounds and provide flight services, fuel, parking, and hangar space. FBOs offer three tiers that provide different accommodations depending on the amount of traffic and size of the airport, including pilot lounges, restrooms and shower facilities, catering, aerial photography, parking, pilot instruction, private jet charter, and much more. Smaller and less busy airports might only offer basic amenities, while more significant, commercial airports have a full suite of extras, like waiting rooms, in-flight catering, and other conveniences.

According to the FAA’s strict aviation provisions and regulations, every aircraft must be deemed “airworthy” to fly. A Standard Airworthiness Certification is the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) official authorization regarding the operation of type-certificated aircraft, including normal, utility, acrobatic, commuter, transport, manned free balloons, and special classes. All operators must have a Standard or Special Airworthiness Certification to prove the safety and condition of the aircraft. It must be publicly visible to all crew members, inspection companies, and passengers in the cockpit or cabin. Certification delays can cost pilots thousands, sometimes millions of dollars, though an aviation lawyer can provide helpful counsel to avoid mistakes and complete the process.

Sometimes mechanics are the only thing standing between the aircraft and a potential problem if an issue is overlooked or not properly taken care of. Maintenance facilities aren’t always at fault. However, suppose a plane crashes, and people are injured or killed. In that case, repair shops are often part of the legal investigation to uncover any mistakes, errors, or other issues that might have caused an accident. Malfunctioning equipment is one cause of crashes, electrical wiring issues, fitting of wrong parts, mistakes, leftover loose objects, incorrect installation of fuel or oil caps, and other similar mistakes are often looked at in a plane accident case.

A fractional jet ownership arrangement affords one or more operators to share in jet ownership through shares or equity in the aircraft. With this arrangement, operators can use the plane for a certain number of hours each year, as outlined in the contract. An interest in an aircraft defines a fractional ownership agreement; shares are sold to multiple owners based on 800 occupied hours and sold in fractions. The cost is divided among the total number of co-operators, and each person is responsible for their operational share. In such an arrangement, flying time typically ranges between 50 and 400 hours, and most jet shares will become multiple of one-sixteenth.

Hangar rash results from an airplane accident or damage to an airplane while being towed in the hangar, moved, or elements inside the hangar that cause physical harm, including falling parts, debris, and weather. Hangar keepers are responsible for any liabilities and unexpected damages to a client’s aircraft. The damage to an airplane can cost thousands to millions of dollars, which also impacts a plane’s overall resale value. Operators often utilize our services when their aircraft has been damaged in hangar storage, a hangar keeper is involved in a lawsuit due to plane damage, or owners need to protect their business from false allegations and lawsuits.

Depending on how much you fly or if you have considered turning your aviation passion into a business, there are various ways to get started outside of an aircraft purchase. Consider purpose, expenses and costs, usage, and other similar factors. Aero Law Center helps operators purchase an aircraft, consider financing options, and adhere to regulations or alternatives such as leasing or fractional ownership. With wet or dry leases, leasing is affordable and accessible with the benefit of fixed monthly payments. Buying shares or equity in an aircraft through fractional ownership is a similar and approachable option if an outright purchase isn’t in the cards.