Global Aircraft Maintenance Requirements
The goal of any good government is to protect the population. Most safety and maintenance requirements that governments create, therefore, are designed to protect the masses. Furthermore, many registries around the globe have limited financial resources and limited manpower. For these reasons, safety and maintenance requirements tend to focus on the aircraft that transport the largest number of passengers at any given time – the commercial airliners.
As an example, a particular country may have a condition stating that an aircraft engine has to be replaced when it reaches a certain number of operating hours. Imagine the difference in operating hours between a commercial jet liner and a private, owner/operated turbo prop. The same hourly condition would not be practical for both aircraft, but there are often not separate requirements for the different aircraft types. Thus, the requirements made for commercial airliners are cumbersome, and often nonsensical to the private aircraft industry, making it difficult and expensive for small aircraft owners to experience the joys of owning and operating a private plane.
FAA Maintenance Requirements
The FAA’s regulations and maintenance requirements are friendlier towards small aircraft and the general aviation population. This may be because of sheer volume. The FAA has more aircraft registered on its registry than most other countries. Private aviation is very popular in America, so the US is more open to creating laws that are favorable to the general aviation community.
Many foreign aircraft owners will agree that registration in the US is simpler, cleaner, and more affordable. Moreover, its laws have a sufficient concern for safety, without being cumbersome to the private aircraft owner community. Many also believe that US registered aircraft are easier to sell. In order to reap these many benefits, foreign private aircraft owners are often motivated to register their aircraft in trust in the US.
US Trust Registrations
There are, of course, many other reasons to register aircraft in trust in the US. Our blog, 8 Benefits of Registering an Aircraft in Trust, lists some of the most common. And while resale value cannot be guaranteed, and other countries are working to make registration easier on the general aviation community, the popularity of registering in trust in the US does not seem to be waning.