Airplane Repo....crazy job

Interesting- in that "repossession" without a court order is otherwise known as "theft".

Good way to get arrested.
 
Mike H said:
Interesting- in that "repossession" without a court order is otherwise known as "theft".

Good way to get arrested.
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Ah true...BUT, these banks that are hiring the guy are the title holders, so I guess thats how they are able to do it.
 
I met a former AA captain who repos planes. He said its like skydiving without checking your chute first. No thanks! :eek:
 
Not to mention, is the airplane airworthy?? Does the pilot really have access to the records to make sure the plane is not out of annual, or god knows how many other issues that could affect the airworthiness of the aircraft. If the pilot gets ramped while doing the repo, and something is not in line, he gets the violation! Hope the pay is insane.
 
This month, National Air and Space Magazine has an article about repossessing airliners

HISTORY OF FLIGHT
Grab the Airplane and Go
How to repossess an airliner without getting shot, or thrown in jail, or beat up, or slammed into a wall, or...
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Good mag.

My friends father was telling me a story one night of how a couple of years ago, he showed up at the airport with the FO, to find that his 767 had been repossessed.

He still had a company credit card so he and the FO ran to a ticket counter and bought tickets on some other Canadian airline and went home.
And that was it, the end of his flying career.
 
I have been trying to break into this buisness for a while now. I am always up for some excitement. Would I repo a 150 with flat tires that has been sitting for months, no. Would I repo a new Cirrus/Mooney/Barron, you bet I would. And you woulden't even have to ask twice. I'd imagine if you did a little research first, you could resonably determine if the aircraft was infact airworthy.
 
I think this would be a very exciting gig, but in the repo business things can get ugly quickly, especially when you are about to yank a 40 million dollar Gulfstream.
 
Douglas said:
This month, National Air and Space Magazine has an article about repossessing airliners



Good mag.

My friends father was telling me a story one night of how a couple of years ago, he showed up at the airport with the FO, to find that his 767 had been repossessed.

He still had a company credit card so he and the FO ran to a ticket counter and bought tickets on some other Canadian airline and went home.
And that was it, the end of his flying career.
Click to expand...

Was that HIS 767 or somebody else he was hired to fly? If that was his own then I would love to be him.
 
I've done a few repos over the last few months, haven't had any hairy experiences - yet. In fact the last one I did in Wichita the owner met me at the plane, went over all the documentation, helped me preflight, and watched as I taxied away. It was kinda sad and I felt terrible for the guy. I think he had been working for Cessna or somebody else on the field and they've been hit hard out there.

I picked up a Cirrus in FXE once and the onsite repo guy, however, did have some good stories. After handing me the stuff for this particular aircraft, he was about to go yank somebody's boat that lived in a gated community. He said those often ended with he and his wife coming in through the Intracoastal in another boat under cover of darkness.
 
stesta5074 said:
These are the owners repossessing their property...
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No, the lender is only the lien holder. The loan is secured by a lien on the aircraft. The lien is not enforcable unless the loan is in default. And the loan is not in default until a judge says it is.

As a practical matter, if the owner hasn't been making the payments, he isn't going to be very successful arguing in court that he's not in default and also isn't likely to be in a position to cure the default- although that's certainly a possibility. The lender still has to go to court though.
 
Douglas said:
This month, National Air and Space Magazine has an article about repossessing airliners



Good mag.

My friends father was telling me a story one night of how a couple of years ago, he showed up at the airport with the FO, to find that his 767 had been repossessed.

He still had a company credit card so he and the FO ran to a ticket counter and bought tickets on some other Canadian airline and went home.
And that was it, the end of his flying career.
Click to expand...

An interesting paragraph from that article:

Back in Indiana, Jennifer Barlow is assembling the team. Pilots are hired as independent contractors. “We get hundreds of résumés,” she says, paging through a binder bulging with applications. Compensation depends on ratings and specialties—and which country the pilots will be required to snatch the airplane out of and how risky the job is. In some situations, Barlow says, “pilots can pretty much name their price.”
 
Mike H said:
No, the lender is only the lien holder. The loan is secured by a lien on the aircraft. The lien is not enforcable unless the loan is in default. And the loan is not in default until a judge says it is.

As a practical matter, if the owner hasn't been making the payments, he isn't going to be very successful arguing in court that he's not in default and also isn't likely to be in a position to cure the default- although that's certainly a possibility. The lender still has to go to court though.
Click to expand...


Technically you are right, in order to "enforce" a repossession the lein holder needs a court order or "writ of replevin"(sp?). However, most repo's work off the "possession is 90% of the law", if a repo has taken place the defaulter must than prove they have a right to the property, if the lienholder can prove the default they are justified in the repo. IE in most juristictions if you catch the reposession before it goes down, without a court order the repo man has zero rights. They have to leave your property(not a factor most of the time in an aircraft repo) if you tell them to and they have no right to touch you, IE pull you out of the car/plane. That is why they sneak around at night or when they know you are occupied elsewhere.
 
boondr said:
Technically you are right, in order to "enforce" a repossession the lein holder needs a court order or "writ of replevin"(sp?). However, most repo's work off the "possession is 90% of the law", if a repo has taken place the defaulter must than prove they have a right to the property, if the lienholder can prove the default they are justified in the repo. IE in most juristictions if you catch the reposession before it goes down, without a court order the repo man has zero rights. They have to leave your property(not a factor most of the time in an aircraft repo) if you tell them to and they have no right to touch you, IE pull you out of the car/plane. That is why they sneak around at night or when they know you are occupied elsewhere.
Click to expand...

exactly right
 
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