Business Jet ACMI Leasing (Wet Lease) For Charter Operators

When your schedule is built on tight turnarounds and client SLAs, the weak link is rarely demand. It is operational continuity. One unscheduled maintenance event, one crew availability constraint, one approval bottleneck, and your revenue line starts bleeding.

Business Jet ACMI leasing (wet lease) is the cleanest way to buy lift without inheriting fleet risk. You are not renting metal. You are contracting an operating system: aircraft, crew, maintenance coverage, and insurance, delivered under an AOC-led framework with defined operational control.

This is written for charter operators who already know the basics and want the mechanics that actually govern outcomes.

ACMI In Business Aviation: What You Are Really Buying

ACMI is often pitched as "Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, Insurance." True. The more important point is this: in a properly structured wet lease, the provider keeps operational control. That cascades into everything that matters in real life:

• dispatch and flight release authority

• MEL/CDL decision-making

• SMS ownership and reporting lines

• crew training, rostering, and duty time governance

• maintenance control via CAMO/AMO interfaces (where applicable)

• insurance posture and claims handling

If your counterparty cannot articulate operational control in plain contract language, you do not have a wet lease. You have a commercial arrangement waiting to fail under regulatory pressure or at claim time.

Where Wet Lease Fits In A Charter Operator's Toolkit

Wet lease is not a vanity move. It is a capacity instrument used when time, reliability, or approvals make other options irrational.

AOG coverage and scheduled downtime

A wet lease bridges maintenance windows without forcing you into distressed sub-charter sourcing. It keeps your client-facing product stable.

Peak season and event-driven surge

When demand spikes, the market punishes the unprepared. Wet lease converts a peak into a controlled supply decision, rather than a scramble.

New base or route trial

You can validate yield, client mix, and rotation logic before committing to long-term fleet exposure.

Crew constraint mitigation

Sometimes the constraint is not aircraft availability. It is crewing, recurrent training cadence, or duty time. ACMI solves that at the root.

Regulatory Reality: Approvals Drive The Timeline

In business aviation, the commercial intent is easy. The regulatory wrapper is what dictates speed.

Wet lease-in and wet lease-out approvals, third-country operator permissions, and competent authority expectations vary by jurisdiction. Marketing posture matters too. If your sales model implies you operate what you do not control, you create friction you will not enjoy later.

Do not treat compliance as a footer paragraph. It is a gating item that determines whether the deal is executable.

Commercial Models And Pricing: Where Quotes Become Expensive

Headline rates are noise. The binding economics sit in minimums, positioning, and availability mechanics.

Block hour ACMI

Common for defined coverage windows. Look beyond the hourly rate and interrogate:

• minimum monthly hours and shortfall treatment

• included positioning versus billable ferry

• standby windows and activation notice

• night stops, parking, hangar and handling policy

• pass-through categories (fuel, navigation, de-icing, permits)

Monthly availability retainer plus variable usage

Better for 30 to 180 day coverage where you want priority access and predictable planning.

Trip-structured wet lease

Possible in some cases, but contract clarity must be clinical. Trip structures tend to drift into "premium sub-charter with wet lease vocabulary" unless the control and approval architecture is explicit.

If a provider offers a quote with no minimums, no duty limits, and no operational control language, you are not being offered a bargain. You are being offered ambiguity.

The Clauses That Determine Whether The Aircraft Actually Shows Up

Wet lease failures are rarely caused by bad intent. They are caused by sloppy terms.

Dispatch reliability and substitution logic

Define what "replacement lift" means. Same category, same cabin standard, same approvals, same lead time. Put it on paper.

AOG and maintenance disruption treatment

You need a credit and substitution framework that is aligned with your client obligations. "Best efforts" is not a plan.

Repositioning and ferry economics

Most disputes live here. Clarify when repositioning is included, what triggers billing, and at what rate.

Crew governance

Explicitly address duty time limits, positioning, accommodations, and responsibility split. A quote that ignores ORO.FTL style constraints is fantasy.

Insurance and claims workflow

Confirm additional insured mechanics if required, liability allocation, notification timelines, deductibles, and who controls the claims interface.

Termination and step-out rights

You need a rational exit path if approvals fail, performance degrades, or the aircraft becomes structurally unavailable.

Due Diligence: What Serious Operators Check

A sales deck is not diligence. Ask for proof points that map to operational reality:

• AOC and scope fit for your mission profile

• evidence of dispatch reliability history

• maintenance posture, MEL discipline, and escalation pathways

• crew training currency and operational governance

• safety stack (SMS maturity, audit history, third-party vetting where applicable)

• insurance certificate details aligned to the mission risk

You are not buying marketing. You are buying risk transfer that must hold under stress.

How To Get A Quote Fast Without Endless Back-And-Forth

If you want speed, submit your request like a procurement professional, not like a tourist.

Provide:

• coverage dates and base airports

• expected monthly hours and stage profile

• aircraft category requirement and cabin constraints

• geography and permissions required

• commercial structure preference (availability vs block hour)

• decision timeline and contracting entity details

A complete request compresses cycles. An incomplete request turns you into the lowest priority in a market that already has enough chaos.

Sourcing Capacity: A Practical Channel That Respects Operational Control

The cleanest workflow is a single intake point that collects the technical and commercial fields needed for a real quote, then routes to vetted operator capacity.

For operating partner execution support, Blue Cube Aviation is one of the providers we work with.

FAQ: Business Jet ACMI (Wet Lease) For Charter Operators

What is the difference between wet lease and sub-charter in business aviation?
Sub-charter is often trip-based and may be executed under varying contractual postures. A wet lease is an ACMI capacity arrangement anchored in operator operational control under an AOC framework, subject to approvals.

Who holds operational control in a true ACMI deal?
The operator should. If the buyer is effectively controlling dispatch, release authority, and maintenance decisions, the arrangement may not be structured as a wet lease in the way regulators and insurers expect.

Is fuel included in ACMI pricing?
Sometimes, but frequently it is pass-through. You must confirm pass-through categories, markups, and billing triggers. Do not assume.

What minimums are typical?
Minimum daily or monthly hours are normal. The issue is whether the minimum is aligned with your realistic utilization, repositioning burden, and seasonality.

How do substitution and AOG coverage work?
Only as well as your contract defines them. You want clear substitution standards, notice periods, credits, and termination triggers that reflect your client obligations.

What is the fastest way to secure capacity?
A complete request pack, a realistic mission profile, and a contracting entity that can execute. Speed is rarely a mystery. It is usually paperwork and approvals.

Can we market the flights under our brand?
Sometimes. It depends on jurisdiction, approvals, and how the commercial model is presented. Marketing that implies you operate what you do not control creates problems.

Disclosure
We may receive compensation if you engage an operating partner through our referral. This does not change your commercial terms with the operator.

General Note
This is general information, not legal or regulatory advice. For cross-border wet lease approvals and contract drafting, use qualified aviation counsel.