Liftbrief / Do-it-yourself game plans
How much time and money should you allow for doing this yourself?
Budget for both active work and elapsed waiting time. A supplier response, insurance confirmation or contract revision is a dependency, not work that an assistant can necessarily accelerate.
The following are suggested project allowances, not measured typical turnaround times or promises of availability. Start the clock when the mission brief and relevant records are complete.
| Buying project | Suggested elapsed allowance | Suggested internal effort | Completion standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planned domestic charter with unfamiliar suppliers | 3–10 business days | 8–16 staff-hours | Comparable quotes, diligence file, signed terms and approval |
| Repeat charter using an approved supplier | 1–3 business days | 2–5 staff-hours | Current mission, aircraft and commercial checks—not automatic approval |
| Jet card or membership renewal | 4–6 weeks | 15–30 staff-hours | Mission replay, balance analysis and reviewed agreement |
| Fractional purchase or lease assessment | 6–10 weeks before the intended decision | 40–80 staff-hours | Financial scenarios and specialist-reviewed contract set; closing may take longer |
| Aircraft-management review | 4–8 weeks | 30–60 staff-hours | Reconciled costs, comparable proposals and transition requirements |
For travel inside 24 hours, treat the task as urgent procurement, not a compressed version of a complete supplier tender. Prefer previously verified counterparties, work on checks in parallel and escalate unresolved issues to the budget owner. Never interpret urgency as permission to skip operating-authority checks.
What are the non-flight costs?
Use this internal budget:
DIY procurement cost = staff time + external legal/insurance/tax work + paid evidence or tools + approved contingency
An illustrative allowance of 16 organiser-hours at USD 75 and two approver-hours at USD 200 totals USD 1,600. Those hourly values are invented budgeting inputs, not salary benchmarks or professional-fee quotations.
The FAA operator resources and IRS guidance used here are publicly accessible. Pricing for legal reviews, insurance advice and third-party diligence should be requested for a defined scope; this research did not establish a defensible universal fee range. NBAA’s current charter-consumer guide landing page identifies its 2020 guide as a member resource, so do not assume every industry document is freely available. (faa.gov)