Hiring a Ferry Pilot

rhkennerly

rhkennerly

Pre-takeoff checklist
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rhkennerly
Hanger mate may need to hire a ferry pilot. We know they exist, but have zero experience with one. We know where to find ads, but we couldn’t figure out insurance (who pays?), travel, what to look for, and what to look out for. Are they flat rate with per diem, or cost plus?

absolutely clueless. Thought? Experiences?
 
How far and why come into play.

Most ferry pilots will have their own insurance. But note, that protects them, not you. Your Hangar mate will want to find someone who meets the open pilot clause on his insurance (for many reasons).

Most I'm aware are per diem plus expenses if it's a multi-day journey. It varies a lot.

He'll want to address the scenario where the plane gets part of the way back and what to do if something get's in the way (Weather? Maintenance).

Some are also A&P and that comes in handy. Very handy if the plane is being ferried with a maintenance squawk like out of annual.

If it's being ferried to a maintenance facility, often they have an arrangement with someone. They are also a good place for a referral.
 
I'm day rate + per diem for overnights. I specialize in a specific type.

A lot depends on the plane type. If it's one that has a "Private or better" open pilot warranty, then it can probably be sorted for a case of beer, some avgas money, and a SWA ticket. Start asking young CFIs, they love adventures. :)

If the insurance reqs are in the 750/250/25 TT/Complex/MM range or higher, you'll want to find that person with the specialty. It's hard to rummage couch cushions and find pilots who meet oddball insurance reqs, who are also "down", and have an aligned schedule.

No ferry pilot has "their own insurance" that covers it all -- owner coverage is required for mechanically induced mishaps, where a non-owner policy (which I carry -- and which covers my F ups) will not be in force. And you need to be named or meet the OPW for the owner policy to pay out when something conks out and the plane ends up in the cornfield.

$0.02
 
rhkennerly said:
Hanger mate may need to hire a ferry pilot. We know they exist, but have zero experience with one. We know where to find ads, but we couldn’t figure out insurance (who pays?), travel, what to look for, and what to look out for. Are they flat rate with per diem, or cost plus?

absolutely clueless. Thought? Experiences?
Click to expand...

I am a ferry pilot. The finances are fairly simple… owner pays me a daily rate, plus all expenses for the trip (ground transport, hotels, airline to and from start and end, etc…).

I require that I am added as a named insured to the owners insurance policy. Typically that is zero cost to the pilot, since I always have more experience than the owner.

Depending on the complexity of the trip, watch out for inexperienced pilots pretending to be ferry pilots, You want someone that actually is capable of moving your plane a long distance, not a 251 hour commercial pilot that has spent all of his time in the pattern at the local airport. Find out your pilot’s time in type and real world cross country experience. Cheaper pilots often end up costing much more, as they may abandon or delay the trip due to inexperience.

Oh, and you better have an airworthy airplane with all of the paperwork in order… If I show up for a 2000 mile ferry and the GPS databases are out of date, I won’t be flying it IFR and that will add to the cost since I’ll probably need to sit on the ground waiting out weather.
 
schmookeeg said:
No ferry pilot has "their own insurance" that covers it all -- owner coverage is required for mechanically induced mishaps, where a non-owner policy (which I carry -- and which covers my F ups) will not be in force. And you need to be named or meet the OPW for the owner policy to pay out when something conks out and the plane ends up in the cornfield.

$0.02
Click to expand...
This is true. Your ferry pilot will not have any insurance to cover the airplane, it is prohibitively expensive or impossible to get. The owners insurance will cover the airplane, so please make sure that you have coverage for this type of operation. For the ferry pilot, the OPW is not enough… the owner will get paid and then the insurance company will sue the ferry pilot. That’s why a ferry pilot must be named as an additional insured on the owners policy.
 
Thunderbird83 said:
This is true. Your ferry pilot will not have any insurance to cover the airplane, it is prohibitively expensive or impossible to get. The owners insurance will cover the airplane, so please make sure that you have coverage for this type of operation. For the ferry pilot, the OPW is not enough… the owner will get paid and then the insurance company will sue the ferry pilot. That’s why a ferry pilot must be named as an additional insured on the owners policy.
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Why would the OPW not cover the pilot if flown with permission of the aircraft owner? I’ve heard of some pilots wanting to be named on the policy but I thought that’s what the OPW is for.
 
mandm said:
Why would the OPW not cover the pilot if flown with permission of the aircraft owner? I’ve heard of some pilots wanting to be named on the policy but I thought that’s what the OPW is for.
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What is an OPW?
 
mandm said:
Why would the OPW not cover the pilot if flown with permission of the aircraft owner? I’ve heard of some pilots wanting to be named on the policy but I thought that’s what the OPW is for.
Click to expand...

Only meeting the OPW puts the ferry pilot at risk of subrogation. Trying to get named insured status on the owner's policy is a way for a ferry pilot to avoid having their own non-owned coverage.

Subrogation would be a risk if the pilot was at fault in the claim. The owner gets paid regardless.
 
schmookeeg said:
Only meeting the OPW puts the ferry pilot at risk of subrogation. Trying to get named insured status on the owner's policy is a way for a ferry pilot to avoid having their own non-owned coverage.

Subrogation would be a risk if the pilot was at fault in the claim. The owner gets paid regardless.
Click to expand...
This. You see pilots being named insured more when you get into more expensive airplanes. Very few ferry pilots are able to get their own insurance. Some claim to be insured, but haven't actually read their policies. The few that are insured are usually associated with companies that do more than just ferry flying, ie they are covered by a maintenance shop or flight school policy.

When I was doing a lot of ferry flying, I could not find a company that would provide such independent coverage.

The downside of naming the ferry pilot on the owner's policy is that it typically involves an additional cost to the owner. Most small, single engine ferry jobs rely on OPW and hopefully the ferry pilot doesn't screw up.
 
Thunderbird83 said:
Typically that is zero cost to the pilot, since I always have more experience than the owner.
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That has not been my experience. May depend on the airplane, but I have added people to my policy before with FAR more experience than me and it most definitely added additional cost to my policy.
 
Thunderbird83 said:
Oh, and you better have an airworthy airplane with all of the paperwork in order… If I show up for a 2000 mile ferry and the GPS databases are out of date, I won’t be flying it IFR and that will add to the cost since I’ll probably need to sit on the ground waiting out weather.
Click to expand...
Very true. I have shown up on more than one occasion to pick up an airplane that the owner bought sight unseen only to find that it was not airworthy and the owner ended up having to buy me another plane ticket home.
 
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