Program exit & handover
Managed-aircraft offboarding records review
A managed-aircraft offboarding records review closes out the records a manager held before an aircraft leaves its program for an owner or a new manager. It is run as a management contract ends or an asset is withdrawn from a program. It assembles the complete handover set, reconciles open work orders and outstanding tasks, confirms the records the program is required to transfer, and documents what remains open at exit. You receive a handover completeness report, an outstanding-task reconciliation, and a transfer pack the receiving party can take on cleanly.
When this review is needed
- A management contract is ending and the program must transfer the records it is obligated to hand over.
- An owner is withdrawing an asset from a program and wants the exit condition documented before custody changes.
- A new manager is taking the aircraft and the outgoing program needs to prove the handover set is complete.
- An aircraft is leaving the program with open work and the parties need a reconciled picture of what is outstanding.
The problem
Exit happens under time pressure and a manager's attention has usually already moved on. Half-finished work orders, in-progress tasks, and partially filed paperwork get left for the receiving party to untangle. Transfer obligations are stated in the contract and in the rules on transferring maintenance records, but at handover the outgoing program often cannot quickly prove what it actually delivered.
What gets reviewed
- The contractual and regulatory records the program must transfer on exit
- Open and in-progress work orders and their disposition at handover
- Scheduled tasks still outstanding and their status at the exit point
- AD and modification status as delivered to the receiving party
- Completeness of the physical or digital document set being handed over
- Deferred defects still open and their state at program exit
Scope this review
Tell us the asset, the event, and the evidence in scope, and we will outline a focused first engagement.
Send a representative, redacted record set and we will scope the review.
What gets validated
- The handover set contains every record category the contract and the transfer rules require
- Each open work order has a stated disposition agreed between the parties at exit
- Outstanding scheduled tasks are listed with their next-due status at the exit point
- AD status delivered at exit reconciles with the program's own accomplishment evidence
- The document set delivered matches the index the receiving party will work from
- Deferred defects open at exit carry their category and remaining limit
Evidence normally required
- The management contract clauses governing records transfer
- Work-order and task status reports as they stand at the exit point
- AD and modification status as the program will deliver it
- The program's document index and the records held under it
- The deferred defect register as it stands at exit
Common discrepancies
- Open work orders handed over with no agreed disposition between the parties
- Required transfer records that the program cannot locate at exit
- Outstanding tasks delivered without a clear next-due status
- A delivered document set that does not match the handover index
- Deferred defects passed on without their remaining limit recorded
What is at stake
An exit that hands over an incomplete set pushes reconstruction cost onto the receiving party and can leave the outgoing manager exposed to a transfer dispute. Tasks that were never reconciled at exit resurface as disputed liability after the relationship has ended.
How the work runs
Define the transfer obligation
Read the contract clauses and the transfer-of-records requirement that apply to this exit and list the categories due.
Reconcile open work
Capture every open work order and outstanding task with its disposition at the exit point.
Check the delivered set
Verify the document set being handed over against the index the receiving party will use.
Assemble the transfer pack
Deliver the indexed pack, the completeness report, and the agreed exit open-item list.
What the buyer receives
- A handover completeness report against the required transfer categories
- An outstanding-task and open-work-order reconciliation at the exit point
- A transfer pack indexed so the receiving party can take it on directly
- An exit open-item list with an agreed disposition per entry
Who uses the output
- Outgoing managers proving what was delivered at handover
- Owners confirming the exit condition before custody transfers
- Receiving parties taking the asset on against a documented set
How the work fits into the transaction or program
The review runs at program exit so the handover is reconciled while the outgoing program can still act on its own records. It produces the transfer pack the receiving manager or owner inducts the asset against.
Start with a single asset
Start with a single tail and expand once the workflow is proven.
Aircraft-specific considerations
Exit reconciliation depends on how the program tracked work in flight. A tail leaving mid-check has a different open-work picture than one withdrawn between checks, so the outstanding-task reconciliation is scoped to where the aircraft sits in its maintenance cycle at exit.
Jurisdiction-specific considerations
When the asset leaves to a program under a different authority, the records transfer has to satisfy the obligation that applied to the outgoing program and present the set in a form the receiving authority's program can accept. A document complete under one authority is not assumed acceptable to the next.
Regulatory limits
The review confirms the handover is complete and reconciled. It does not discharge the outgoing program's regulatory obligations on its behalf, make an airworthiness determination, or bind the receiving party to accept any disputed open item.
What this review does not cover
- Performing the outstanding maintenance work itself
- Arbitration of a transfer dispute between the parties
- Issuance of any export or airworthiness approval
Specific to this review
- The transfer of maintenance records on a change of program or ownership is a stated obligation, so the exit review is checking against a real requirement rather than a courtesy.
- Open work orders at exit are the most disputed item because each one needs an agreed disposition between two parties whose relationship is ending.
- A handover index that does not match the delivered set is treated as a finding in its own right, since the receiving party works from the index first.
Sources
U.S. Government (eCFR). Requirement to transfer maintenance records with an aircraft on sale or transfer of ownership.
U.S. Government (eCFR). Records an owner or operator must keep, including total time in service, current status of life-limited parts, and AD compliance.
U.S. Government (eCFR). Maintenance recordkeeping content and approval-for-return-to-service requirements, including 43.9, 43.11, and Appendix B.
European Union / EASA. Continuing airworthiness, maintenance records, CAMO responsibilities, and the airworthiness review process in the EASA system.
U.S. Government (eCFR). Air carrier maintenance recordkeeping and retention requirements under Part 121.
Frequently asked questions
Who is responsible for open work at offboarding?
Responsibility is set by the contract, but the review's job is to make each open item visible with a disposition agreed at exit, so it does not become a dispute once the parties have separated.
Relevant glossary terms
Related pages
Where this fits
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We will walk through your current state, the records or evidence involved, and a scoped first engagement.
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