500+
Aircraft in the industry cost benchmark
Conklin & de Decker (now part of JSSI), established in 1989, publishes fixed cost, variable cost and performance data for more than 500 jets, turboprops, helicopters and piston aircraft, with separate North American, European and Asia-Pacific cost sets.
$11bn+
2025 supply-chain cost to airlines
IATA estimates aviation supply chain problems cost the airline industry more than USD 11 billion in 2025 — a direct read on why maintenance and parts budgets are drifting upward for owners too.
$3.1bn
Higher maintenance costs
Of that total, USD 3.1 billion is higher maintenance cost from ageing fleets, USD 2.6 billion is excess engine leasing while engines sit in shops, and USD 4.2 billion is fuel savings delayed by late deliveries.
17,000
Record aircraft order backlog
Deliveries fell to 1,254 aircraft in 2024, about 30% below pre-COVID peaks, while the order backlog swelled to a record 17,000 jets — the reason lead times for lift, parts and shop slots stay long.
Figures are drawn from the published sources listed at the end of this article. Permit lead times are indicative and set by each civil aviation authority.
The metric that misleads
Ownership decisions are usually modelled on cost per flight hour, because it is the number everyone quotes. It is also the number that hides the problem. An aircraft that is unavailable does not generate flight hours, but it continues to generate almost all of its cost: crew, insurance, hangarage, subscriptions, management, financing and the calendar-driven portion of maintenance.
A more useful frame is cost per available hour — the total annual cost divided by the hours the aircraft was genuinely ready to fly the missions it was bought for. Owners who model this way tend to make different decisions about crewing depth, spares, and where the aircraft is based.
Availability is engineered, not hoped for
Availability is the product of maintenance planning, parts logistics, crew coverage and how far the aircraft sits from the capability it needs. In regional operations, distance to capability is frequently the dominant term. A defect that is a same-day fix near a well-stocked line station becomes a multi-day event when it requires a ferry flight, an inbound part and an engineer's travel.
That is a planning input, not bad luck. It argues for a realistic spares philosophy for the components that historically ground the type, a pre-agreed route to approved maintenance capability, and a documented recovery plan that exists before the first unscheduled event rather than after it.
Crew is a structural cost
Crewing is commonly modelled as though it flexes with utilisation. It does not. Duty and rest rules, recurrent training cycles, type currency, leave and medical validity mean that supporting a given level of availability requires a certain crew establishment regardless of how many hours are actually flown.
Thin crewing looks efficient in a spreadsheet and behaves badly in operation: a single illness, a training due date or an unexpected trip extension removes availability precisely when the owner is watching. The cost of the extra depth is visible; the cost of not having it appears as cancelled trips and chartered replacements.
Compliance overhead is real work
Registry choice, operating model, insurance requirements, airworthiness management and record-keeping all carry recurring administrative load. Whether that load sits with the owner's own team or a management company, it has to be resourced. Under-resourcing it is not a saving — it defers cost into renewals, audits and the eventual value of the aircraft's records at sale.
- Continuing airworthiness management and technical record integrity.
- Crew training records, currency tracking and licence validity.
- Insurance scope aligned to the routes and operations actually flown.
- Permit and overflight administration for the aircraft's normal operating area.
- Registry-specific reporting obligations and inspection cycles.
The honest comparison
Before committing, compare three models against the mission profile the aircraft is actually being bought for: full ownership with in-house management, ownership with third-party management, and chartering the same mission profile from approved operators. Some usage patterns clearly favour ownership. Many patterns — low annual utilisation, wide geographic spread, or highly variable aircraft category requirements — do not.
The point of the exercise is not to discourage ownership. It is to make the decision on the whole number, so the aircraft delivers the control and readiness it was bought for instead of becoming a cost the owner has to defend.
How we work it
Earotine's aircraft management support is built around availability and compliance: maintenance planning coordinated through approved organisations, crew currency and duty tracking, technical records discipline, operating cost visibility, and a documented recovery route for unscheduled events.
We do not own or operate a fleet. Our role is to manage the operation around the aircraft so an owner sees a single accountable picture of readiness, compliance and cost.