My clients usually plan to use a limited liability company to own their aircraft, assuming the LLC will protect them from personal liability. Yet they often do not realize that an LLC is far from a bulletproof shield.
Although LLCs can provide barriers to private third-party claims against their owners, the reality is that certain claimants may cut through an LLC to reach the personal assets of the owner/members and other related parties. Perhaps more concerning, the U.S. government has regulatory and statutory authority that may extend personal liability to more individuals and entities than just owners, including their officers, directors, managers, pilots, and aircraft operators.
David G. Mayer is a member of the global Aviation Practice Group at Shackelford, McKinley & Norton in Dallas, which handles private aircraft matters, including regulatory compliance, tax planning, purchases, sales, leasing and financing, risk management, insurance, aircraft management and operations, hangar leasing, and related corporate work. Mayer frequently represents corporations and high- and ultra-high-net worth individuals and other aircraft owners, flight departments, lessees, borrowers, operators, sellers, purchasers, corporations and managers, as well as lessors and lenders. He can be contacted at [email protected].
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