Ayse Akalın: What is the main focus of Ventum Aviation in Business Jet Industry

Gökhan Sefa: Ventum was established in 2018 and focusing on Business Jet sales/acquisition and cost control management for the aircraft owners.

As it is clearly known Aircraft sales  and acquisition is a part of international trade business therefore it must be professionally managed. When there is available aircraft engaged by the prospective client, the client should be assisted for a well defined Pre Purchase Inspection (PPI), clear title, smooth transaction which is conducted with a successful closing via a well recognized escrow agency. In today’s world it is highly important to retain a professional consulting company for aircraft needs so that the consulting firm can apply each important steps of transactions which are in compliance with Ethic and International trade rules.

The other business area focused by Ventum is cost control management of the business jet on behalf of the aircraft owner. This business is highly important to aircraft owners and takes a place once aircraft is acquired by the client and in operation.

Ayşe Akalın: Could you briefly describe the important steps of Business jet transaction (sales &acquisition)

Gökhan Sefa:The most important step of the business jet transaction is to hire the right consulting firm that will protect the client’s right who retained the firm. With that way, there will be neither grey zone nor hidden cost behind of the transaction. This will also prevent the client from spending any more money than what Aircraft fair market value is. The client that retains a consulting firm for its aircraft needs has to know  how much he/she would spend for the aircraft value and for the service of consultancy.. In other words to make the aircraft sales/acquisition process crystal clear, client should retain the right firm  that can represent the client in international aircraft transaction by using the correct instruments. As it is clear, there are 2 sides of aircraft transaction. Once side it to sell as the other side is to purchase. First,  Lets go with the important steps of buying an aircraft:

Selection of the aircraft type/model/age/range..etc which would meet with the expectation of the client. Confirmation of the ownership history  and the mandated firm  to make sure Aircraft is  marketed  by the exclusively retained agency and is not sanction ownership  involved.  This step will prevent the buyer from paying commissions to many unknown broker and provide the buyer a green light to move on the interest in the aircraft. Checking all the up to date maintenance records and next 2 years upcoming maintenance forecast of the selected Aircraft. Once we are confident that the aircraft is fine, has a clear title and enough proof to submit an LOI (Letter of Intend), we prepare the first draft of LOI. This LOI will clearly include the first offer price, which Escrow Agency to be used, where Aircraft would be taken for PPI(pre purchase Inspection) and how much deposit to be placed to Escrow. Once LOI is accepted, the consulting company manages the opening of escrow account for the specific serial number of this aircraft and make sure the deposit is in that account. Working with the best reputable escrow agency is the key element of successful and the best secured transaction, once account is open at Escrow, it is a mandatory to protect the buyers right to search for title for international registry, confirming of the aircraft owner’s record including the UBO’s (ultimate benefical owner) passport copy..etc. In other words, KYC(Know your customer) forms must be cleared and exchanged. With this steps, the seller and buyer are now confirmed that there are end user sitting at aircraft transaction table and there is one consulting company representing the buyer as the other one representing the seller. This will secure the smooth, transparent transaction and protect aircraft value from hidden cost, unnecessary paid commissions…etc.

The other important step is  to visit the aircraft and check all the previous records (Log book and record review).

On that step it is highly important to invite the prospective operator’s technical manager for the record view since aircraft will be operated by them which will make operator the accountable company against to all Aviation Authorities around the world.  

Once log books and records are clear for transaction, the next step is the preparation of APA (Aircraft purchase agreement). Please note that based on the deal structure and the mutual agreement by both parties APA can even be signed before Log Book review. In the end it is highly important to sign APA before PPI starts. This a red line for Ventum Aviaiton and there is no negotiation on that to protect the client. Once APA is signed and aircraft is at the assigned facility for PPI, both buyer and seller will know how much of the work package they are individually responsible. In other words, there is NO grey zone for the client that retained Ventum 

Once PPI completed, the next step is to technical acceptance the aircraft or refuse the aircraft. The details and the conditions of the acceptance or rejection is clearly defined at APA. And again it is highly important to retain the right consulting company to input the right wording at APA for coverage.

When aircraft will be accepted and released for the service from the facility, it is time now for closing. The closing is the step where aircraft ownership/title will change. The most important step here is that to release the full amount of the acquisition price to the escrow and wait for de-registration. The details of that steps must be defined at APA as well.

Once aircraft is deregistered from its Aviation Authority, Escrow with the instruction from the both partie’s consulting firms will transfer the title of the aircraft to its new owner as the fund is transferred to the previous owner. Dedicated escrow agency will notify both parties by sending the proof the bill of sales with dated and proof of the payment.

Here at Ventum Aviaiton clients retained Ventum to acquire a business jet, usually receives 6 revision of the status report to make sure the client knows where he/she is at his/her acquisition processs. Aircraft selling process is also similar to what explained above. However one of the key extinguish between them is preparation steps. Once Aircraft is to be sold by an retained consulting firm, consulting firm needs to make sure there will be a professional photographer involved supported by good marketing team for high resolution photographs and brochures. The data introduced to the market must be appropriate and up to date. Here at Ventum Aviaiton clients retained Ventum to sell their business jet, usually receives 6 revision of the status report to make sure the client knows where he/she is at his/her sales processs.

Ayşe Akalın: What is the most important steps of business jet transaction?

As I have briefed above, The most important step of the business jet transaction is to retain the right consultancy firm that will protect the clients right. With that way, there will be neither grey zone nor hidden cost behind of the transaction. This will also prevent both parties from spending any more than what Aircraft fair market value is.

The client that hires a consulting firm for its aircraft needs has to know how much he/she would spend for the aircraft and for the service of consultancy. In other words to make the aircraft sales/acquisition process crystal clear, client should retain the right firm  that can represent the client in international aircraft transaction by using the best instruments. As it is clear there are 2 sides of aircraft transaction. Once side it to sell as the other side is to purchase.  

Ayşe Akalın: You describe Ventum Aviation as a consultant firm that is retained by seller or buyer side and manages the process for  its customer. How is it seperated from being a broker company?

Ventum is a not a broker company. The reason why we say that is that Ventum is not buying to sell someone else. Or we are not using someone else’s funds to create a back to back transactions.

With full transparency, Ventum always represents one side of the transaction and receives its fee by its client. i.e. İf Ventum is not retained to sell a specific business jet, Ventum never approaches to the owner  of the jet and asks for fee to be paid if there is a customer of Ventum willing to purchase his  jet In that circumstances, Ventum would approach to this aircraft only when Ventum has an acquisition mandate signed by the buyer side which means Ventum will not work to sell the aircraft but will  acquire the aircraft for its exclusive client.

Ayşe Akalın: As you mentioned earlierventum is also focusing on cost control management for the business jet owners. Could you please provide more information what is cost control management of a business jet?

The baseline of Cost Control management of business jet is to make sure that owner will not spend any more than the owner should spend for the aircraft operation costs. As it is known, Aircraft operating cost has 2 aspects. One side is fixed costs, The other side is variable costs.

Some of the examples of The fixed costs are: crew, salary, aircraft insurance, hangar parking fee, Operator fee…etc And some of the variable costs are: fuel, maintenance, accommodations…etc

As it is clear fixed costs are already agreed and fixed cost which mean the aircraft owner would already know how much he would spend each month whether aircraft is in operation or not. For the fixed cost items,  ventum can play a major role before the contract sign with the service provider and then follow up that the invoices are appropriate with what it is signed in the contract. For example, it is important to enroll the aircraft engines on a engine program which will cover the cost of the engine for schedule and unscheduled maintenance service.

Before that contract sign Ventum acts on behalf of the owner  and shares contract negotiations skills to make sure the signed contract will well protect the client for the best convenient price.

This type of contracts are usually good for next 3-5 years. So once the right fixed contract is signed and activated , owner is secure and there is nothing to worry about it.

Some contracts for example can be signed as a yearly base such as insurance, operator, hangar parking…etc 

However, the cost control management plays a key role when there are certain variable costs involved. For example, when Aircraft will due for a schedule maintenance Ventum asks the operator to collect proposals from different maintenance facilities (MROs) and then prepare a comparison chart for the owner’s best selection. Once the owner decides to select 2 MROs, it is then Ventum’s responsbilitiy to enter a contract negotiation process with the MROs to make sure each step of the maintenance will be well defined, and the cost of additional works will reasonable.

Once aircraft is  at the selected MRO, Ventum works very closely with MRO and the aircraft operator to monitor the maintenance and additional prices.

As it is known technical expenses are an ongoing expenses which occurs every month. There is always service request from the operator to make sure aircraft is airworthy.

In order to provide a full transparent cost control Ventum always keeps a dedicated person from the aircraft owner company in each correspondences and never applies back charges. The goal of the cost control to make sure that Aircraft will be operated with a reasonable cost and the owner will be paying the invoices to the end user. In order to secure that goal Ventum never takes any invoices over its account. The payments are always done between the owner/operator/end user.  Ventum charges its clients on a monthly fixed “cost control management invoice” and never takes any addition on it. 

Our historical data proves that Ventum saves over 150.000USD /per year /per aircraft that includes pilot training rebates to be used for the aircraft owner and saving of maintenance services

Ayşe Akalın: What does Ventum do to protect the aircraft owners from unnecessary spending?

For that step, ventum makes sure the owner of the aircraft is well informed about his aircraft ongoing process. Is it nice to have it? Or is it mandatory to have it. If it is mandatory, is it right to be paid? Once Ventum at that stage, it is important to report the owner a solid data with a proven record. For example, Owner might be offered to enroll a parts program which is normal upfront payment  yearly fixed block hour with the escalation of each year. The program might cover some of the parts where the owner will probably may not need next 3-4 years. In a circumtances like that Ventum checks the previous historical records of the aircraft and makes an assumption whether it is mandatory to add that coverage to “part agreement” or it is only nice to add that coverage.  

The secret of our cost control management is that Ventum  provides each data about the service intended to be purchased and let the owner decides how to act.

Ayşe Akalın: Where do you see most spending occurs and what how do you control it?

Most of the spending occurs for technical services. If technical expenses are not projected well and not followed on a daily basis there is a big possibility the cost of technical expenses will go higher and higher. 

Recently, One of the aircraft that is managed by Ventum had to go 96 Months inspection which is the most expensive maintenance service for that type of aircraft. Before the maintenance started, the contract negotiation and management skills of Ventum  allowed the aircraft owner to prepare a budget for maintenance which didn’t surprise the owner in the end of maintenance. Ventum’s calculation for the service 98% appropriate with the total final invoice provided by the dedicated MRO.

Ayşe Akalın: Other than Ventum's existing clients in Turkiye, do you have another clients out side of Turkiye that Ventum provides cost control?

As of today ventum manages fleet of business jets worth over $50Million. Other than Turkish operators that Ventum has aircraft, there are also aircraft of Ventum under the operations in UK and international companies like jetAviation which is the General Dynamic company