Jay Mesinger

Questions & Answers

May 5, 2005:

Q: My Company is in the process of acquiring a used Falcon 2000. I understand that the aircraft cannot be taken out of the United States on the pink registration certificate that is filed with the FAA at closing.

A: First, the bad news. If the aircraft is a US registered aircraft and has an N number registration, it cannot be flown out of the US on the temporary or pink registration certificate.

Now the good news! At closing, when all of other pertinent paperwork is being filed with the FAA, usually through a title company, you can file what is called a ‘Declaration of International Operation form.’ This form allows you to designate a true upcoming international flight.

You must designate the flight by date and destination. Once filed and the title is transferred, the FAA will process this request and fax back to you a telex that will take the place of the pink or temporary certificate.

This new ‘Fly Wire’ will be placed in the aircraft and allow you to leave the US immediately upon receipt. This processing should occur within 36 hours of filing if filed on a business day and also starts the full process of permanent registration. You should get the hard copy of the registration in the mail within days. No need to wait for that to start your adventure!

Q: My Company is selling its Citation X. We have been a customer of Citation for years and we still have an active account with the Cessna Service Centers.

Upon the aircraft being inducted into the service centre for the pre-buy, we were told that we would have to settle the bill on what was described as a COD basis before the aircraft would be allowed to leave the service centre.

In fact, the buyers, who were also long-term Cessna customers, were told the same thing. They had to pay up front for the inspection rather than being allowed to charge the inspection on their bill. This was a shock to both sides. Is this normal?

A: The short answer is yes! I might mention right up front that this practice is not just a Cessna Citation practice, nor is it about you or

your buyer’s past performance. This is what all facilities, both factory owned or independent, use as a standard business practice for pre-buy inspections and corrective action charges.

The entire pre-buy experience can be one of high emotions and broken dreams. Sometimes, as the inspection process reveals deficiencies that are not known to the buyer or the cost to repair the items discovered begins to grow, either the buyer or seller may begin to get uncomfortable and unwind the deal.

This can leave the facility in the middle holding a bag of costs that are not meant to be borne by the facility, but by one of the respective parties. Buyers, angry about the seller not being willing to correct an item, may walk from the deal and not want to pay for the inspection.

The same can be true for a seller who agrees to fix an item that if they were not selling, may not have addressed and feels violated if the buyer walks. Unfortunately, this history burdens everyone regardless of intention or past performance.

So remember, this is not about you. It is about the business practices of companies who have a memory of being in the middle of deals that fall away prior to closing.

I might close with the most important point. Deals that do not close or items found that are misrepresented are rare! Enter a sales or acquisition process with confidence of a great completion.


- Jay Mesinger