Northeast was founded by the late Jeffrey Mallia, a former naval aviator and builder of an EAA AirVenture award-winning Cozy Mark III canard homebuilt. His father founded the insurance firm Sykes-Mallia in 1956.

Following in the family business, Jack Mallia joined Northeast 15 years ago and will join the SHAIG management team. He brings his expertise in aviation insurance, ranging from renter’s policies to owner-flown jets, warbirds, charter operations, flight schools, FBOs, aircraft management, quota shares, and even weather balloons.

• READ MORE: Aircraft Insurance Market Has Stabilized—Somewhat

“We are deeply honored to carry forward the legacy of Jeffrey Mallia through the acquisition of Northeast Aviation & Marine,” said David Hampson, SHAIG president. “The legacy of personalized client-focused service aligns perfectly with our own values. We are also thrilled to welcome Jack Mallia to our team.”

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

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Fyve By, an Atlanta-based company, seeks to solve the pervasive problem of hangar rash, while simultaneously enhancing ground operation safety. 

Benjamin Youngstrom, Fyve By’s co-founder, explained that the vision for the company is an evolution from its initial goal.

“The inspiration came from wanting to make a functional change in aviation, and we started with the idea of making autonomous tugs and ground equipment,” Youngstrom said. “As we worked on it, we came to understand why all of the autonomous ground support equipment companies that have come before have failed and why all of the ones that exist now are going to fail.

“The problem is that they require infrastructure. Driving a tug, you can’t see anything past the front of the aircraft, even when you’re talking about smaller jets. So, if you put the sensors for an autonomous tug on the tug itself, it will have the exact same problem as a human being. You need to build infrastructure, and as we started designing the external vision for the tug, we realized that the external vision is the product and not autonomous ground support equipment.” 

The switch in focus toward creating a tool for ground support personnel came in early 2023, and the Fyve By team has been hard at work ever since to bring the product to market. 

“Hangar rash incidents easily account for billions of dollars in damage per year, especially when you calculate not only raw damage but additional training expenses, lost revenue, lost trust, additional aircraft value loss, and customer care costs,” Youngstrom said. “So, while the exact repair bill value [to correct the damage] is only a couple billion dollars per year, when you calculate total lost costs, including opportunity costs, you are looking at a five-to-10 billion dollar industry expenditure.”

Hangar Rash Headaches

They anticipate their solution will help mitigate hangar rash incidents, which are a headache to operators, FBOs, insurance underwriters, and others. 

“We started out using normal security cameras and then moved on to using 3D cameras, called stereo cameras,” Younstrom said. “But we found very quickly that they were too expensive to set up and were unreliable. They never gave the best view of what we were working on in the hangar.” 

After additional iterations, Fyve By’s proprietary Sky View product was unveiled in early 2024. As the name implies, it serves as an eye in the sky, helping to guide in-hangar aircraft movements.

“Eventually we switched over to lidar, which is very complicated to work with,” he said. “It’s a talent intensive technology. You need to understand robotics and need to have an in-depth understanding of computer vision. After we closed our pre-seed funding round, we hired a very capable team of engineers that have managed to make a really reliable system that identifies aircraft, equipment, vehicles, and everything else in a hangar.

“We are able to take that identification to provide a 3D rendering shown on a tablet, accompanied by audio and visual warnings when you get too close to something that can cause damage. In essence, I like to call the final product a ‘Honda Sense’ style backup camera for moving and managing aircraft.

“The goal was to give line crew something simple and straightforward that wouldn’t act as a distraction and instead would just provide value. And when it isn’t providing value [when aircraft aren’t in danger of colliding with one another], it would be something that almost wasn’t noticeable.”

Test Fit and Target

There is additional existing functionality in the system, which the team notes has functionality that other products do not.

“Currently the Sky View system also allows crew to do a ‘test fit and target’ with the system,” Youngstrom said. “Before they move an aircraft, they can use their tablet to place an exact replica of the aircraft they are about to move in the hangar. The system will tell them if the airplane fits where they want it to go and they can set a target at that spot. Unlike the hangar stacking products on the market where you have to eyeball the placement in the hangar using a printed sheet of paper, our ‘test fit and target’ function allows you to know you’ve put your plane exactly where you want it.”

Sky View is currently in beta testing, with a healthy mix of different customer types trying out the technology out for themselves. 

“We are selling preorders with customers and have existing orders both from private flight departments and FBOs,” he said. “As part of our beta program, we have an FBO, a maintenance facility, and a private flight department. This accounts for 10 hangars and about a quarter billion dollars’ worth of aircraft being protected by our system right now.”

Youngstrom and the Fyve By team are optimistic for the impact they expect to have in the aviation industry.

“There is a lot on the horizon for our technology,” he said. “We’re looking at features like full range stacking, which would take into account not only can the plane theoretically fit in a hangar but whether a human or machine is realistically capable of moving it where they want it to go. We’re also looking at providing auto slowing, auto braking, and other semirobotic modules.“ But truly our focus now is building useful, reliable, and consistent products that make the lives of line crew, maintenance crew, directors of maintenance, FBO general managers, and insurance adjusters easier. We don’t want to be another overhyped, cash grab, Silicon Valley tech startup that ends up bloated and valueless. We want to be the safe and reliable new industry standard for how aircraft are moved in hangars and on the ramp.”

The post New Tech Aims to Ease In-Hangar Aircraft Movements appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

According to the insurance provider, airlines will contribute approximately 35 percent of the premiums, while general aviation is expected to account for 47 percent. Allianz says the surge in premiums comes as 2024 air traffic is anticipated to reach a record high—growing by 10.4 percent year over year, predominantly driven by the Asia-Pacific and North American regions.

The report highlights that most of the value in aviation insurance claims comes from collisions, crashes, and issues with defective products which together account for 85 percent of total claims. Contributing factors to rising premiums include an increase in aircraft repair costs due to higher labor rates, increased prices for aircraft parts, and inflation.

The report also mentions the transition to next-generation aircraft continues to impact claims, especially with engine disassembly and repair costs. Additionally, a growing shortage of aircraft mechanics and less experienced technicians could influence future claims, potentially leading to higher repair costs and increased risk, according to Allianz.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

The post New Report Projects Aviation Insurance Premiums Will Reach 20-Year High appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

It’s no secret that pilots of complex and high-end aircraft have been dealing with the trend of higher rates and even non renewed policies, especially older pilots and those with limited experience in type. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to sunset your flying career once you reach 70—the point in life where underwriters consider you a “senior” pilot. Moreover, with a savvy approach, some compromises and hard training requirements, insurance can be available for younger and green pilots stepping into tailwheels and turbines.

Plus, insurance pros unanimously say to find an insurer you’re happy with and stick with them for the long term because loyalty matters. At the same time, show the underwriter you’re doing everything possible in the name of safety, and that includes sourcing quality flight training and on a regular basis.

Here’s a general insurance guide, with tips and advice from those who write the policies and pay out the claims.

Old Plane, Older Pilot

Making matters worse is that companies are putting limits on insured value. Just because you have $350,000-plus invested in your refurbished piston single typically valued at $125,000 doesn’t always mean you’ll be able to insure it for its full upgraded value without solid proof it has all the upgrades. These days, with avionics, paint, and engine upgrades, it’s easy to get upside down from an insurance standpoint.

Marci Veronie from Avemco Aviation Insurance said the company writes policies based on what it calls “stated” proof of equipage.

“If you can prove to me you have it in what you want covered, and we can agree, that’s what we’ll write the policy for,” said Veronie, noting that clients send photos, videos, and equipment specs that are cross-checked against the company’s reference guides.

• READ MORE: Aircraft Insurance Market Has Stabilized—Somewhat

Essentially, do your best to prove what you think the aircraft is worth. If you sold the aircraft tomorrow, what would you get for it?

The other issue is maintainability. The parts availability issues for some older airplanes are trickling down to the insurance market, which means you’ll be paying more out of pocket for repairs.

In the insurance world this is called a component parts schedule, which means insurers will only pay out a percent of the loss of a flap or wing or tail section, as some examples. It’s a snag for uncommon experimentals and certified aging aircraft alike.

Scott Smith from Iowa-based Scott “Sky” Smith Insurance said that these days it’s not just the age of the pilot but the age of the aircraft that concerns insurers.  Some companies have stopped insuring Cessna piston twins older than 30 years—a major chunk of the fleet. Others have walked away from turbine conversions.

There are a few underwriters who say claims can sit in limbo for many months because of parts shortages. For others, where it’s impossible to source parts, the aircraft becomes a loss, the insurer pays it out and unloads it to the highest salvage bidder. Part of the reason for rate increases is the increasing cost of replacement parts. Think about that before buying something rare, exotic, or classic.

It has taken a while for the underwriting world to sync up with the huge jump in value of used aircraft, though prices do seem to be stabilizing. Still, while an older Skyhawk might sell for big money, that doesn’t mean an insurer will write a policy with limits that match the value. Good insurers will routinely ask what improvements were made to the aircraft, including the big ones like avionics upgrades. Plan on providing proof of equipage (make sure all equipment is registered with the manufacturer) and keep tight engine logs.

Speaking of engine time, one FAA inspector advises that insurers deny claims if the aircraft’s engine is beyond TBO and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report cites engine failure as a probable cause of the crash. We call that nonsense. Engine TBO is not a requirement in Part 91 ops, but instead a suggestion from the manufacturer.

Who Is This Guy?

Part of the problem that’s frustrating for aging pilots is the stereotype. Not all senior pilots are hobbling around with a cane and short of breath, because in general, aviators tend to keep themselves in reasonably decent shape.

Insurance pros agree that for an underwriter sitting at a desk in Big City USA, it is difficult to evaluate an aging pilot’s risk. As one insurer put it: “How do you know if you are writing [for] the 60-year-old 80-year-old, or the 80-year-old 60-year-old?” The companies really don’t because people age at different rates. Some lag behind their chronological age, and some are way ahead of it. Some are fit enough to compete in endurance events, while others can’t walk a mile without falling over.

Some also argue that with age comes more sound aeronautical judgment, and for career aviators, lots of real-world experience. That may be true, but is it canceled out with declining situational awareness and reaction time? The low-hanging fruit is accident history. Almost every company did tell us that they experienced a slightly higher accident rate among the senior pilot customers. As a result, a 77-year-old pilot with two gear-up landings in the last three years, or who ran one tank dry and made an off-field landing with 40 gallons in the other tank, is probably not a good bet when it comes to risk.

• READ MORE: Airplane Insurance Trend Could Be Bad for Us All

Two areas of human thinking that researchers say suffer the most and the soonest from aging are working memory and reaction time. Working memory is defined in different ways, but we use it here to mean the part of transient memory used to temporarily store and manipulate information, such as reading back an approach clearance or running a checklist from memory. Underwriters have relied upon medical certification to give them some reassurance about the physical fitness of their clients and in some cases require additional FAA medical exams because it’s more data that they can put in the pilot’s files. The annual FAA medical including electrocardiogram (EKG) has been a favorite for years.

Another clue that underwriters look at is how much time a pilot has in the same type of airplane in which they are looking to be insured. Some aging pilots can easily tackle the challenge of a different airplane with lots of new features and complex systems, but many cannot. One underwriter said that while his company insures many older pilots, it tends to avoid older pilots who were making transitions, especially large ones—such as from a piston to a turbine. The required learning of new systems may be a challenge—and insurers know it.

What Scares Them?

Insurance underwriters consistently tell us that assessing the risk factor is easy simply because they have years of data, proving that pilots continue to bend aircraft the same way they always have, despite huge leaps in tech with layers of automated backstop.

We concur. Over at sister publication The Aviation Consumer magazine, we’ve been studying monthly NTSB accident reports for more than 50 years and come up with the same stats, again and again. Whether it’s runway loss of control (RLOC), continued VFR into IMC, loss of control in IMC, botched instrument approaches, low/reckless flying—the list is long—crash patterns are predictable, especially for taildraggers.

For prospective tailwheel owners and current owners 70 or older, the hard market means doing some homework before applying for insurance or renewing an existing policy.

Mike Pratt, an aviation insurance broker with Foundation Risk Partners, a large brokerage with offices in 14 states (he’s been a tailwheel owner and pilot for years) had some good advice. According to Pratt, a high number of claims because of careless prangs and the lack of pilot training are what is driving the insurance market for tailwheel airplanes above and beyond the hard market. There are only about a dozen insurance companies that write for aviation and not all will insure tailwheel airplanes, so it’s up to the owner to put their best foot forward when seeking insurance.

What are red flags to underwriters? In the tailwheel world, it’s little airplanes with very high hull values. That means that if you haven’t yet obtained a tailwheel endorsement, don’t buy a brand-new Husky, Scout, Maule, or XCub, to name a few, and expect to get insurance with one simple phone call. If you can get it at all, it could cost at least $15,000 for the first year.

Moreover, get time in the type of airplane you intend to buy—even if it’s only five hours—before you apply for insurance. Putting down a zero in the time type box in the insurance application means that some of the companies will not even look at you. Also, plan on completing as much dual instruction as the insurer requires in your new airplane before you fly it solo. It’s amazing that some owners don’t want to part with a couple thousand dollars for training after spending a couple hundred thousand for the airplane.

Pratt said he sees pilots become cheap about training way too often and believes it’s one of the most foolish things they can do. Truth is insurance companies have had their financial faces rubbed in the value of training for years. They know it keeps claims down. Plus, do you want to deal with having to repair your new bird when quality training might have avoided it altogether?

If you are 70 or older and have been able to get insurance for your tailwheel airplane, don’t rock the boat. Do not change insurers. Don’t get huffy in response to a big premium increase—the odds are that no one else will insure you, and the insurance company that has been loyal to you may drop you. We hear from senior pilots on a regular basis faced with nonrenewals, regardless of their claim histories. The bottom line with taildraggers is get an insurance quote before making a deal on one, while accepting that at some age, if you want insurance, you’ll have to switch to a nosewheel airplane.

Underwriters also look at what kind of airplane their older customer is flying and the amount of liability coverage they carry. Bear in mind that the insurer has in effect promised to pay for the airplane, and the limit of liability, if things go really badly—as it certainly sometimes does. Underwriters treat this as very real money. So, the older pilot in a Cessna 172 insured for $90,000 who carries $1 million of liability coverage limited to $100,000 per passenger causes an underwriter much less concern than the older pilot flying a Piper M600, as one example, worth $4 million and toting liability limits of $5 million.

Last, senior pilots flying retracts and twins seem to be attention-getting for many underwriters, even though the available evidence is confusing and even contradictory. Many of the studies based on accident analysis include only NTSB-reportable occurrences, which are only a fraction of all aircraft insurance claims. And how do we tell whether a gear-up landing is just an “oops’’ or was caused by age-related factors? Plenty of youngsters have committed the $60,000 slide, and plenty of younger pilots do some pretty stupid things.

Training, Currency, Medical Certification

This includes earning a new rating or two, which underwriters see as a good thing. So is the client who goes out for additional recurrent training on their own. Currency can be a good gauge for risk because the pilot who is flying 100 hours a year, getting periodic training and proficiency checks, plus maybe doing an FAA WINGS phase, should look good to an underwriter concerned about that aging pilot keeping his head in the game.

On the other hand, insurers have said that the mere issuance of a medical certificate does not provide the underwriter with much information about either gradual deterioration of a pilot’s skills, nor does it provide much ability to predict sudden medical incapacitation—as rare as it may actually be. So it’s easy to wonder how belt-and-suspender safety backstops (including Garmin’s Emergency Autoland and other autopilot-based equipment) will affect the insurance underwriting landscape. From what we can tell, it helps sell airplanes to aging pilots.

Avemco offers sizable discounts for pilots who go the extra mile in the knowledge- and skill-building department.

Seaplanes, Turbines, Experimentals

Unanimously, insurance pros admit that rates for these aircraft can be extremely high, and some might not be insurable at any cost. Avemco said it can help ease the pain if the floats are taken off and wheels installed during the offseason, if you operate in northern climates. Yes, skis are the same as wheels in the eyes of Avemco and most insurance companies, so they won’t alter the cost.

Got a fresh seaplane rating in your wallet? Resist going out and buying a high-performance model like a Cessna 206 or big-engine Maule on amphibs. Instead, consider something you can insure yourself for any physical damage. Maybe something pretty simple, such as a Luscombe or even a Cub on floats, until you get some time in your logbook.

Building an airplane from a kit? The advice is to stick with ones with large fleet sizes. Almost every underwriter recognizes models from Van’s, Sonex, and Zenith as being good choices. Replacement parts are a big concern for underwriters, and so is complexity, so it might be best to build a fixed-gear airplane (with a tricycle configuration) and avoid rare or one-off kits. Unless you have serious amounts of turbine time in your logbook, an experimental turbine will have your underwriter laughing.

Speaking of turbines, they’re certainly doable, but be realistic. As one underwriter put it, “the owner-flown jet and turboprop market is where all the hand-to-hand fighting is. Liability limits are being cut in half, premiums are doubling, and it’s sort of a failure of the insurance business to get this far behind the curve that we can’t provide the product at a reasonable price.” Another made a good point: “High-performance aircraft, including turbines, may be the big-buck business insurance companies want, but they may not want the pilot that goes along with the policy.”

Stepping into the world of an owner-flown turbine means you’ll need to spend quality time with your insurance broker to find out whether you can get a policy that covers you in the airplane and limits of liability that you need to protect yourself, as well as the conditions and its cost. Accept that your age and experience are the two drivers that determine your insurability when stepping up to turbine machines.

It may be that you will be unable to buy insurance to fly a dream airplane single pilot at any price. We’ll say it right here: If you are over 65, the current market means there’s little likelihood that you can get insurance for a first-time step-up to a turbine.

Wrapping It Up

Who knows when we’ll see another soft insurance market, but for now the best thing anyone—old or young—can do to stay insured for the long haul is simply don’t crash. That could mean piling on extra layers of training, being realistic with yourself on your skill set, and for aging pilots staring down age 70, accepting that downgrading to a simpler aircraft is the simplest way to keep flying. No matter what you fly, show your insurer that you’re serious about training and proficiency with a well-kept training log.

And simply prepare for the payout. By that we mean keeping all of the aircraft’s maintenance paperwork in order, including sign-offs for annual inspections and airworthiness directive (AD) compliance. While insurers will police it before writing a new policy, you don’t want to be scrambling to get the paperwork in order after an accident.

Last, if you’ve been a longtime customer to one company, keep it that way. Now is not the time for aging pilots to jump carriers, because in a hardened insurance market, loyalty matters.

This feature first appeared in the Summer 2024 Ultimate Issue print edition.

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The aviation insurance market hasn’t proven to be any more predictable than the world at large. One would expect rates to stabilize after five years of increases, but they are still going up. Similarly, underwriting criteria haven’t loosened and are still tightening in certain areas, such as war risk. This volatility is driven by largely unforeseen domestic and global factors. On a domestic level, inflation of parts and labor and stubborn supply chain issues continue to increase costs to settle hull claims. Also, attorney rates and litigation costs are rising, so insurers pay more even if they prevail in successful defense of their insureds. Globally, the market is facing billions of dollars of unexpected claims because of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, followed closely by the $3 billion Boeing 737 Max claims saga. And to add insult to the injury of unpredictable outcomes, aircraft that were destroyed in the Sudanese conflict earlier in 2023 could result in another $250 million to $300 million of losses.

It’s worth reiterating that aviation premiums are collectively small on both a national and global scale, and aviation breaks the “law of large numbers,” a cardinal rule in actuarial science that predicts outcomes with reasonable accuracy if there are enough similar exposures to consider. At the risk of oversimplifying a complex underwriting process, we can demonstrate this concept with a simple coin-flip exercise.

We can predict the outcome of a standard coin flip will result in heads 50 percent of the time. Try flipping a coin 10 times and see if you get five heads. You probably won’t. Now try flipping a coin 100 times or even 500 times if you’re ambitious. I’m sure it will be much closer to a 50 percent outcome. With so few similar exposures in aviation insurance, we are the 10-coin-flip gamble of the insurance world, whereas on a relative basis boat insurance would be about 900 coin flips and auto insurance would be 10,000 coin flips.

You might be wondering what this all means for where aviation insurance is headed in the next two to three years, and we’ll address that. But first let me paint a picture of where we are today.

Piston Aircraft

The good news is insurance rates for pleasure and noncommercial, business-use piston aircraft—being further removed from international shock losses—have largely stabilized, and we are seeing increases in line with inflation. This is particularly the case for basic trainers and common models with many serial numbers in service. Factors that continue to pose an underwriting challenge include low-time pilots in high hull value and/or retractable gear aircraft, make/models with limited parts availability, experimental aircraft, and older multiengine pistons.

While pilots over 70 years of age will continue to face challenges finding options for new aircraft purchases, we find most underwriters willing to renew coverage for pilots who have demonstrated loyalty to the same insurer over many years, though liability limits may be lowered, and operations under BasicMed might be off the table. More underwriters are now willing to insure new aircraft purchases for pilots as old as 79 in basic, fixed-gear models such as a Piper PA-28, Cessna 172, or even a Cessna 182, especially if the pilots are high time and instrument rated.

Commercial operators flying piston aircraft, such as flight schools and charter companies, will likely face higher increases than non-commercial operators, but still lower than what we saw in 2020 through 2022, unless there has been notable claims activity. Unfortunately, commercial piston operators may still find few competitive options at renewal time because these accounts are manually rated. Insurers have not been immune to staff shortages that plague many industries, and underwriters need to prioritize what they work on because they often don’t have time to get through every submission on their desk. If you are unhappy with your incumbent insurer for some reason other than price and want to make a change, it helps if your broker communicates that sentiment to their underwriters because they are more likely to quote when they know there is a realistic chance to win an account.

Another positive sign we are seeing is that several new insurers are entering the piston/light aircraft market. It is too early to tell how competitive these new insurers will be and to what extent they will disrupt the market status quo, but an expansion of insurers is usually a sign of a hard insurance market about to turn the corner.

Turbine: Owner Flown

The owner-flown turbine segment, which includes turboprops and jets, continues to be a tough nut to crack. Because rates were so depressed for so long, and many insurers suffered high-dollar losses as a result of large hull values and liability limits, it’s taking longer for this sector to recover.

Increases here will generally be higher than inflation and may come with decreased liability limits, fewer ancillary coverages, and higher hull deductibles. But most insurers are still willing to renew existing accounts until pilots reach their mid-70s.

Pilots new to the turbine market need to be strategic about their transition plans. It helps to find an airplane that is as similar as possible to the one you’ve been flying. For example, a Cirrus SR22 to a SF50 Vision Jet, or a Piper Malibu to a Piper Meridian are the sort of transitions that are viewed favorably by underwriters if a pilot is instrument rated with at least 1,000 hours total time.

• READ MORE: OMG, Insurance!

With regard to training, I implore turbine transition pilots not to request “in-aircraft” initial or recurrent training for the first three years. I’ve already heard every possible justification for it and so have your underwriters. Nothing is going to change the fact that simulator training is the gold standard to insurers because of its thoroughness and standardization, and requesting a waiver early on in your turbine career may negatively bias how underwriters perceive your attention to risk management, safety, and training. High-time turbine pilots with substantial make/model time who are under 70 may be able to obtain approval for in-aircraft recurrent training if not annually, then at least in alternating years.

On the positive front, we can usually obtain an insurance solution for even the lowest time turbine transition pilots if they’re prepared to pay, able to accept basic liability limits, and willing to allow a mentor CFI to babysit them from the right seat for 50- to 100-plus hours. For example, we recently quoted a student pilot in a Cessna Caravan for a six-figure insurance premium and have written Cirrus Vision Jets for sub-400-hour pilots at around a $75,000 annual premium.

Turbine: Professionally Flown

Corporate or commercially operated turboprops and jets fall into a different and more favorable rating tier than owner-flown risks. Accounts with favorable loss history are generally seeing increases at least in line with inflation but less than owner-flown turbine accounts. War hull and liability coverages have doubled in many cases because of the aforementioned global conflicts, but these coverages are fortunately a small component of the total premium for domestic aircraft without significant international exposure.

Many commercial operators have seen flight activity pick up in recent years. While premiums aren’t normally rated or audited for annual hourly utilization, claims activity in the form of weather events, bird strikes, and hangar rash usually increase with utilization. We’re seeing the effects of this reflected in higher loss ratios and rate increases greater than average for commercial operators who are flying more.

There remains competition for and favorable treatment of “best-in-class” risks in the professionally flown turbine world. You can separate yourself from the rest by living and breathing a culture of risk management, pilot proficiency, and safety that goes far beyond an SMS program. Top accounts in this segment will proactively seek input from their insurer’s safety and loss control departments for improvement and select one or several underwriters to partner with to achieve a long-term, mutually profitable relationship for both insurer and insured.

Future Market

Now to predict the unpredictable, let’s circle back to my earlier exercise and flip another coin. I call heads, the market gets better, and tails the market gets worse. I can tell you with nearly 100 percent certainty that one of these two outcomes will be correct and also that we’ll be in for an interesting and unforeseen ride along the way.

This story first appeared in the September 2023/Issue 941 of FLYING’s print edition.

The post Aircraft Insurance Market Has Stabilized—Somewhat appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Don’t you hate it when your backup camera is fogged up in the morning so you have to actually look in your mirrors to see what’s behind you like some kind of “depression era” truck driver? Or when the headlights of the truck behind you hurt your eyes when you’re in your Lotus GT? Yeah, me too. First world problems, eh? Why, just this morning it took me forever to find the end of the Scotch tape roll.

I hear you just bought your own airplane. Finally, nothing standing between you and the deep blue sky as you soar majestically high above those millions of mere mortals. As my close friend William Blake used to say, before his untimely death in 1827, “No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.”

While Big Willy, as he was often known, might have intentionally overlooked the ever-present complication of weather, we can certainly forgive his lack of appreciation of basic aerodynamics and RVSM rules, not to mention fuel costs, A&P shortages, parts shortages, hangar shortages, currency and compliance rules, loan payments, and that one other knotty problem: insurance.

This is one of those truths that we hold to be self-evident about aircraft ownership, that the fourth most effectively restrictive, general-aviation-killing authority in the world is the FAA. The third most is every other government in the world. The second most is the Chinese Communist Party. And No. 1, by a nautical mile, are the occupants of that dark haunted castle with the impenetrable iron door known as the home of the insurance underwriters. Standing just outside that door is your one and only insurance broker. Let’s call him Bernie, the designated middleman who happily collects a fee for whispering into a slot in the door, listening, and then telling you what the inhabitants have whispered back to him. Creepy, huh?

Among the things you aren’t allowed to know in this exchange is what did Bernie actually whisper to the Star Chamber? What did he tell them about you, if anything? What kind of working relationship does Bernie have with them? Do they think he’s a jerk or an idiot or a crook? How many underwriters did Bernie actually talk to? All of them, or just the ones paying the highest commissions? Can I trust Bernie to tell me what the underwriters are really whispering to him?

For crying out loud, who came up with this system? Is it really in the underwriter’s interest to avoid direct contact, accepting secondhand information about the character and flying capabilities of the people they insure? Is it really in your interest to cover Bernie’s boat payments every year? I submit, my dear friend, the answer is no…but here we are.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could just walk away from this archaic system and force some reforms by using the power consumers usually have? But then we’d be the challenged ones. Sadly, unless you’ve paid cash for an airplane worth less than 20 grand, one that has only a pilot’s seat and flies exclusively over West Texas or some other equally empty quarter of the world, you’d be out of your mind to fly without insurance. Incidentally, you might also be out of your mind climbing into an airplane that’s worth less than 20 grand.

I recently came across a plaque hanging in an FBO that said, “If you’re lucky enough to own an airplane, you’re lucky enough.”

I’m thinking of selling a plaque that reads, “If you’re lucky enough to own an airplane, you’re worth suing.”

Airplanes are expensive, and stuff happens to airplanes and the people who ride in them.

Sometimes it’s in the air, sometimes it’s during a hasty or sudden unflying, and sometimes it’s the result of something stupid or unlucky on the ground. And more than being just an expensive tool slash toy, many well maintained airplanes have become pretty good investments if your timing is right.

All of this, combined with the prospect of losing everything to a liability claim, means that insurance, the mechanics of shared risk, is the only solution to protecting those things you’ve worked so hard for.

Back to Bernie for a moment. The annual routine starts with you filling out a form with information that he already has which, you assume, he forwards on to his favorite underwriters. A couple of weeks before your current coverage lapses, he gets back to you with a list of six or seven responses each containing either a quote with terms of coverage or an outright “Refusal to Quote” for this or that reason.

This year, because of your age, you are turned down by every single underwriter that Bernie chose for you, except for one. Just like every year for the last six years, your premiums rise 20-plus percent year over year. Each year’s increase is accompanied with a colorful explanation, usually featuring losses associated with unusually high claims by pilots other than you.

This year’s explanation is a real prize winner. The premiums have gone up, he tells you, because of the losses caused by the war in Ukraine.

“Really, Bernie?” you say, “The insurance underwriters, the ones that are too frightened to cover me, are writing insurance in Ukraine?” This is all absolute nonsense. You’d fire Bernie if you thought you had better than a 33 percent chance of improving your representation.

I honestly believe that if we were allowed to interact directly with whomever it is that’s making the decisions, were given a chance to present our qualifications, background, and flying history, we could lower our premiums by lowering the assumed risk for the underwriters.

But how do we start?

Well, it seems to me that there are others in this industry that would benefit from the success of this cause. Perhaps the companies that build airplanes for people that can afford them. How about the companies that provide training, or the alphabet organizations that benefit from our memberships and donations?

Hey, are you guys listening? You all can save a lot of time by seeing it my way. That’s it for now.

Here’s hoping you have the day you deserve.

— F.W.

This column first appeared in the August 2023/Issue 940 print edition of FLYING. 

The post Airplane Insurance Trend Could Be Bad for Us All appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

This loss prompted an attenuated version of the five stages of grief. First off came denial. Surely there was an insurance company that wasn’t so rapacious—it just had to be discovered. Next came anger. Am I any less capable today than yesterday? Then bargaining: Can’t I take frequent check rides to assess competency? Luckily, we skipped the depression component and found ourselves washed up on the shores of acceptance.

I was helped in this phase by many longtime readers who sent remarkably warm and supportive messages of condolence. One, which came from a West Point grad and Cessna Citation M2 owner, was especially poignant and helped put it all in perspective. He wrote: “I read your article as soon as I had the plastic off the magazine. I imagine it was tough to sell the jet, for sure. But….and I am not trying to be glib, in the words of Dr. Seuss, ‘Be glad that you are sad.’ You would not feel the sadness and remorse if flying that plane hadn’t given you so many hours and years of satisfaction. We are incredibly fortunate people (who) have been blessed to be able to make enough money to care for our families and engage in this most spectacular of human endeavors. You are in a rarefied company to purchase any sort of personal airplane (let alone earn an ATP and own a jet.) You have enjoyed a helluva run.” I have tucked this wisdom into my back pocket, and I shall keep it.

Accepting that age has its benefits and penalties, I decided to use this “opportunity” to switch to BasicMed from my habit of medical Class 1 and 2. The process was straightforward, my doctor was helpful, and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association site provided a relevant course and quiz, which I passed.

Coming back down from a personal mountaintop of aviation, I found myself energized by things that exhilarated me on the way up. A twin-engine piston airplane is a remarkable beast in its own right. New avionics make the cockpit look more like a jet than the panels I remember from almost 30 years ago. The expense reduction for maintenance compared to operating a CJ1 will be welcome. There’s a bright side to this diminishment.

• READ MORE: OMG, Insurance!

Thus reconfigured, I sought to find an airplane that met BasicMed criteria of maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 6,000 pounds and no more than six seats (among other restrictions). Cessna 340s and Beechcraft Barons came to mind. The 340 is pressurized, and I have about 500 hours in them but almost all have been modified with vortex generators and engine upgrades, making their MTOW too high.

I contemplated finding one and removing the VGs but couldn’t get my brain focused to understand why I would willingly make an airplane less safe.

About this time, I fell under the spell of a high-powered consultant with an unusual pedigree: Embry-Riddle grad with a Ph.D. from Northwestern and now a partner in a highly regarded consulting company and, oh, by the way, a first officer at a regional airline on the side. This is definitely my kind of guy, and he could not stop praising the P-Baron—a pressurized version of the Model 58 introduced in 1976.

Most P-Barons have MTOW greater than 6,000 pounds, but there is a kit to make them BasicMed acceptable. Suddenly, I’m a Baron groupie. I am ghosting Beech Talk, an online aviation forum. The names of “Baron whisperers” started to be important. A good prebuy inspection and lots of Baron experience seemed like a good thing.

Barons built after the early 1980s have a different throttle quadrant location and may have electrical systems differences. Throttles on early ones are mounted up high, seemingly in the way of the engine instruments, but owners seem to love this nonstandard configuration (“When I put the power up, the instruments were right by my hands—perfect.”). I was skeptical.

Two later model P-Barons were advertised at high prices. Since I wanted to move quickly (Yes, you are right. I’m not getting any younger.), I rationalized the high asking prices. But both were under contract—one for months waiting for the electronic engine indication system (EIS) updating.

Then I found what I thought was going to be “the” airplane. With low time engines, new paint and props, reasonable avionics, and an attractive price, it was certainly appealing. I was on high alert. I asked Mike Naab of Double M Aviation in Lakeland, Florida (KLAL), to look at the logs.

The airplane was beautiful, but there had been hurricane damage. When I read, “the airplane was disassembled and transported for repairs,” I took a pause. When I learned about “…structural repairs to right wing, left wing, left aft fuselage, flaps…” I realized that this was complicated. I needed a Baron whisperer.

That high-powered consultant P-Baron enthusiast I was telling you about? He knew the “best” A&P from his ownership days. I sent him the 337’s summary sheet. He advised caution and just happened to mention one thing: He knew of an airplane coming up for sale, and it was one he had maintained, a 1984 model with great avionics and a strong pedigree.

I offered the asking price, and a prebuy in KLAL is scheduled for next week. I’ve been down the road of excitement before, so I’m trying to keep a lid on expectations. But hope springs eternal, even for pilots of advancing age. I’m feeling lucky.

This article first appeared in the August 2023/Issue 940 print edition of FLYING.

The post Moving on from the ‘It’ Airplane appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Comparing aircraft renter insurance policies is rarely comparing apples to apples. Some policies may seem to be lower priced, but when you look closer, they may not include what you really want or need. Follow this simple checklist to help you decide if a particular renter insurance policy is right for you.

Coverage Details

• When is my policy effective?
• Does the FBO/Flight School require aircraft physical damage coverage? If so, how much?
• Does the policy have a per passenger sublimit, or the more restrictive per person sublimit?
• Does the policy offer a No-Fault Deductible?
• Does the policy include medical payments?
• What types of aircraft are approved under the policy?
• Does the policy cover personal effects for my passengers?
• Does the policy include legal defense?
• Are any AOPA membership or claims-free discounts offered
• What is the covered territory on the policy
• Can I add my employer as additional insured?

The insurance application itself is straightforward; simply decide how much legal liability and physical damage coverage you want to have and any additional coverage you might need. You will need to answer questions about your experience, pilot certificate and ratings, total hours logged, and hours flown in the last 12 months.

AssuredPartners Aerospace has a team of aviation insurance specialists ready to help you get the protection that you need. They can give you examples of how each coverage applies to your individual situation and help you figure out the right coverage for you, at the price you can afford. You can learn more about Aircraft Renters Insurance by downloading a free Guide Book here.

The post Aircraft Renters Insurance Checklist appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Just like the housing market, many aircraft Bluebook listings haven’t caught up to the actual market value. A good question to ask yourself is, “What would it cost to replace my aircraft in today’s market?” If you have been renewing with the same value each year, chances are it’s underinsured by at least $100,000. Assuming you haven’t adjusted the hull value since pre-COVID, here’s how much of an increase you’re looking at on average: 

Data source: Jetnet, Average asking price, captured 9/16/2022

Sharp Increase in Piston & Turboprop Aircraft Value Between 2021 and 2022

Data source: Jetnet, Average asking price for Piston aircraft, captured 9/16/2022

Data source: Jetnet, Average asking price for Turboprop aircraft, captured 9/16/2022

While all aircraft values have increased in recent years, piston aircraft have experienced the most significant change. Since September 2019, the average hull value for piston aircraft has increased by 34 percent, a 5 percent higher increase compared to turboprops, and 10 percent higher than business jets. While the value of all piston aircraft have been impacted, some makes and models have experienced more significant price increases.

The change in value of turboprop aircraft has been slightly less significant compared to piston aircraft, yet there is a notable increase nonetheless. Similar to piston aircraft, some makes and models have experienced more significant increases than others.

Based on these changes, there has been a lot of discussion in owner and operator forums this year about increasing the hull values of their aircraft. I’ve noticed many pilots and aircraft operators who have been in the industry for a long time mention the importance of insuring an aircraft based on its current market value. 

Business Jets Have the Longest Extended Lead Times for New Orders

Another interesting trend supported by data is the lead time for new deliveries from manufacturers, such as Pilatus, Cirrus, Piper, Daher, etc. Manufacturers at EAA Oshkosh 2022 confirmed that if you want to purchase a new business aircraft, you may experience a significant waiting period. 

Sure, there’s a chance that people may cancel their orders, but these lead times indicate a significant number of orders and demand which has also led to an increase in aircraft value. Needless to say, the global pandemic and resulting supply chain disruptions have had a massive impact on the aircraft industry, giving pilots and owners plenty to consider when insuring their aircraft. 

How To Check If Your Aircraft Is Underinsured

Most of the time aircraft owners can request to increase the hull value to what they believe to be the current market value by simply notifying their insurance broker. However, under certain circumstances, underwriters will request further justification. This can include maintenance logs, receipts for upgrades in avionics, interior, and equipment. Additionally, pilots may be asked to acquire a formal appraisal from an Accredited Aircraft Appraiser. 

How To Determine If You’re Under/Over Insured

There are several resources available to owners who need to determine whether their aircraft is under or over insured, including:

• Aircraft Bluebook has been the industry choice for complete and reliable aircraft valuation data for over 65 years.
• Jetnet and AMSTAT have a private list of aircraft for sale with additional details about the price, operation and owner.
• Certified Aircraft Appraisers Association can connect you with selected and verified senior aircraft appraisers.
• Contact professional aircraft brokers through the IADA or GLADA.aero.
• VREF is another reliable aircraft valuation resource. 
• Controller.com can provide reliable pricing for new and used aircraft, as can Trade-A-Plane.com.

How Much Could It Cost You To Be Underinsured?

There are lots of reasons why you don’t want to underinsure your aircraft. It’s a moral hazard to underinsure it. Essentially, an insurance policy is a contract between you and your insurance company where you are agreeing to sell your aircraft for the agreed value. If it is underinsured you can be out of a lot of money which would be the difference between the agreed value you have it insured for, minus the cost to replace it at current market value.

To determine how much it could cost you if  your aircraft is underinsured, let’s consider a recent example. 

A pilot requested to increase the hull value of their Commander 1000 aircraft to $1 million based on their understanding that leading Commander sales brokers have been consistently selling similar Commanders for $1 million to 1.5 million.

However, there was push back from the underwriter based on the Average Bluebook Value. Since the Bluebook value of the aircraft was approximately $437,000, the underwriter declined the request without a formal appraisal and an estimated parts cost for the upgrades (labor not included). 

While an appraisal costs around $1,000, it is a small price to pay if the pilot would like to accurately insure the hull value of his aircraft. If they settle for the Bluebook value, they could be underinsured by an amount anywhere between $563,000 to $1.06 million. 

While a sane pilot never intends to crash his or her aircraft, there are a slew of risks outside their control that could damage the aircraft, including:

• Tornados
• Hail storms
• Bird strikes
• Foreign object debris (FOD)
• Hangar rash
• Fire
• Floods
• Hard landing
• Mechanical errors

If the aircraft is undervalued and therefore underinsured, the pilot could be left holding the bag. This is a perfect example of the importance of completing an accurate valuation of your aircraft based on market value. Once a proper valuation is completed, the most common option for aircraft hull insurance is to insure for the market value +/- 10 percent. If it is over insured or underinsured, it creates a type of  “moral hazard.” If a claim is made against the aircraft and it’s under insured, the insurance company is more incentivized to “total” the aircraft and pay the Agreed Value to the owner while profiting on the actual market value.

Will Hull Prices Eventually Drop Back to Pre-COVID Levels?

Many people speculate, “Just wait a few months and the market will readjust lower.” While it’s true, the market has adjusted a bit lower from the peak, it has yet to come close to resetting to pre-pandemic levels. 

We have seen the volume of transactions decrease by 16 percent while prices increase by 12 percent, meaning there is less inventory available.

I understand the view some people hold that pre-owned airplane prices will come down. They probably will at some point. However, I’m not so sure new Citation prices will come off dramatically as I’m sure Textron’s costs have increased or will increase when they renegotiate their supply contracts.

Will My Insurance Premium Increase If I Increase the Hull Value?

Insurance premiums are a rate of the hull value, so yes, your premium will increase proportionately to the agreed value of your aircraft. Rates are a sliding scale, though, so the higher the hull value, the lower the rate. 

When’s the Best Time To Update the Hull Value on Your Policy?

The best time to discuss increasing the hull value of the aircraft is upon policy renewal. A request can be made to change the value anytime but most underwriters aren’t partial to altering the hull value mid-term, unless there are substantial circumstances. 

If you’re a pilot or aircraft owner reaching the end of your policy terms, I’d invite you to contact Sunset Aviation to discuss your renewal options. We’ll answer any aircraft insurance questions you may have and ensure your aircraft is fully covered based on the current market value. 

The post Aircraft Values Have Skyrocketed; Are You Underinsured? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

A: You are in luck, vintage aircraft like the Aeronca Champ have very knowledgeable groups—known as type clubs—that can provide a plethora of information. At EAA AirVenture they occupy the hangar at the entrance to Vintage Aircraft Parking. Each club takes a table (or two) and volunteers are there to answer questions about the designs they represent.

Away from AirVenture you will find many of these clubs online: do a search for “aircraft type clubs” and find the design you seek. They often have very knowledgeable individuals who can answer questions about what to look for in (insert name of aircraft desired here), challenges with maintenance, where to get spare parts, how to care for the aircraft, who can provide transition training, insurance questions, who provides tailwheel training (if appropriate) in that design, quirks of the aircraft handling, who is selling one, who is buying one, etc.  Good luck!

Do you have a question about aviation that’s been bugging you? Ask us anything you’ve ever wanted to know about aviation. Our experts in general aviation, training, aircraft, avionics, and more may attempt to answer your question in a future article.

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