When you get a new aircraft, you have to register it under your name at the Federal Aviation Administration just like you would a car at the DMV. This also means that should the aircraft switch owners, you will need to register that as well. In order to carry out this process, whether you are selling, transferring, or sharing ownership of this aircraft, you will have to go through an FAA exchange of ownership.
Selling the Aircraft
The most obvious instance in which you will need to file an FAA exchange of ownership will be when you are selling the aircraft to someone else. In these cases, independently from the sale itself, you will need to apply for a formal exchange of ownership with the Federal Aviation Administration in order for the new owner to have their registration in order. It’s important to note that the seller is the one who needs to apply for this exchange of ownership, provide all the information about the sale, including the aircraft manufacturer, model, and the sale price, among other key identifiers, and carry out the whole transfer.
FAA Exchange of Ownership
If you are looking into adding an owner to an aircraft’s registration, be it a spouse or a business partner, it’s not as easy as it should be. In fact, you need to apply for a transfer of ownership as part of this process. As part of this process, you obviously don’t have to include details about the sale because a sale didn’t take place. Instead, you will have to state that this is either a partnership or co-owner registration. This might get ticky, so don’t hesitate to reach out to our team here at the National Aviation Center to make sure you carry out every step of the process accordingly.
Entrusting an Entity
If you are not selling your aircraft but are instead transferring it to a company or trust or even just changing a managing owner’s name, you will also have to send in an FAA exchange of ownership. It’s important to remember that you have to do this even if you yourself are the owner of the company in question or one of its employees. Whether any money was exchanged in order to transfer the aircraft or not, you will need to apply for this change of ownership in order to update the registration of the aircraft in the eyes of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Contact National Aviation Center
Here at the National Aviation Center, we want to make sure that every aviation-related form is both easily accessible and readily available to anyone looking to file an airplane claim of lien or any other document related to an aircraft. These forms, be they an FAA exchange of ownership, a new registration, or any other form, are all ready for you to fill up on our home page, but if you need some additional help with any of them, don’t worry. Use our website chat, fill out our contact form, or give us a call at 1-800-357-0893 and we’ll answer your questions in no time.