Aircraft Detailing

av8r

av8r

Well-Known Member
I work for an aircraft maintenance and avionics company in the NW and we are looking to expand our services and offer aircraft detailing. I'm interested to get your thoughts on a couple of things and find out what works and what doesn't.

If you were having your airplane cleaned, would you prefer to pay a flat-rate based on the type of aircraft and condition of the aircraft, or would you rather pay by the hour?

Would you.....
1) want to have your airplane detailed on an "as needed" basis even if it means you would pay more every time you had your plane cleaned than if you had a signed contract? Or....
2) sign a monthly contract and receive a 10-15% discount to have your aircraft detailed every month?

For pilots and aircraft owners - what do you look for in a detailing service etc?

Thanks!
 
I think that for every response you get to these questions, you will recieve a different response. With that said I'll share our flight department's approach to cleaning and detailing...

subject aircraft in CE560XL part 91 operator

Day to day cleaning is handled by the crew. Interior vaccuming, wiping down panels, seats, etc; as well as exterior cleaning as necessary, nose cone, windshields, briteworks and such.

Every 4-6 months we will have the aircraft detailed. Fresh water wash, waxing and carpets cleaned.

With that said, we wouldn't enter into a monthly cleaning contract as you have mentioned. While it would be nice, it just wouldn't be cost effective for our department. When we do employ the services of a detailer, we expect to have predetermined pricing based on a/c type and services needed.
 
Most people that offer the service generally have a price per aircraft size. They also break the price down by interior, exterior and bright work.

As said above we operate a pt 91 Lear 45. We (the two pilots) take care of the day to day. DustBuster the plane, straighten the seat belts and take out the trash after the end of the day or after a flight if its really needed. For the exterior we clean the front windows as needed and that's it. We have a regular cleaner, we pay per use, call him as needed for a fixed price. We'll probably have the interior/exterior done once to twice a month on average. The bright work we have done about 2-3 times a year. Those numbers can vary depending on how the Wx has been and if we've had to park outside a little more then normal.
 
We have a guy on staff that does ours. He waxes the aircraft after every trip. Not sure how normal that it but it's how we do business. We operate two king airs and a citation.
 
Thanks guys, I appreciate the replies. Your answers feed right into my thinking/planning as well. We have entered into a couple of "contracts" with some of our regular maintenance customers who are very adamant about keeping their jets clean (inside & out). It seems to work well for both customer and our company at this point....but granted we only have a handful of aircraft that we detail. A monthly contract could be out of the question as we continue to grow this new part of the company and have more people lined up. The nice thing is that business has been steadily increasing over the last couple months. Trying to educate our customers and show the benefits of having a squeaky clean airplane. :)

Any thoughts on marketing? We have a few smaller airports in the general region and appear to be the only company offering detailing as part of the maintenance shop. Curious to know how you've marketed your services/products. Do you think social media (i.e. facebook) brings in business? How about local publications, newspapers etc?

May I be so bold as to ask what the general ballpark price is that you charge (or expect to pay) for detailing various types of aircraft (basic exterior/interior cleaning)? Maybe for a C-172, King Air, Lear 45 etc?

Thanks again!
 
I used to wash and detail for a small flight department (800XP, 900XP, and a KA350). They just paid me an hourly rate and used me only when they would come back from trips. I was usually only out there 2-3 times a week but it would take me ~8 hours to get it all done. Detail and restock the interior, dump the lav, clean off the bugs, get the brake dust off the tires, and wipe down the wings and engines....Pretty basic but TKS sucks.

I'd say if you're looking to offer this in addition to your other services then it would be best to use a flat rate based on size. Yea, some are going to be dirtier than others but as a customer I think being charged a flat rate would be more appealing than knowing you're paying a wage to get it cleaned. Also, the contract idea is good too. Gives them savings incentives to pick up that cleaning service.
 
I also fly for a 91 out of the NW and we do it ourselves and the mechanic does most of the wash and waxing after most flights.
 
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