Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

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Matt Thurber

Jeppesen ForeFlight’s online insurance brokerage is adding aircraft owner’s insurance and will begin making this available at EAA AirVenture 2026, which runs from July 20 to 26. <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/general-aviation/2026-04-22/foreflight-launches-aircraft-insurance-marketplace">ForeFlight Insurance</a> Agency launched in April with its first product: flight instructor and renter’s insurance. Now ForeFlight Insurance will enable owners to shop online and compare prices from various insurance underwriters.
Similar to how its renter’s and instructor’s insurance works, ForeFlight Insurance simplifies the process of obtaining insurance quotes for aircraft owners. Applications are all done online, with some information pre-filled from ForeFlight’s digital logbook (for customers who use this). “You can receive multiple quotes,” said Connor Hailey, director of insurance. “You can compare them side by side, with the primary goals being transparency and ease of use. A lot of pilots experience that [the process] is opaque, that it takes a long time to get quotes, and that you’re never certain that what you’ve gotten is the best that you’re going to get, or if it’s what you just had presented to you for other reasons.”
Owner’s insurance is available in two customer categories: pleasure or business flying—in other words, flying for recreation or transportation but not for commercial operations.
ForeFlight Insurance submits applications to underwriters but also is careful not to interfere with an owner’s existing coverage, according to Hailey. If an owner already has an insurance policy and it is more than 90 days from renewal, which normally means that a quote for that specific aircraft isn’t possible, ForeFlight Insurance obfuscates the registration number so quotes can be provided.
The customer can choose from a list of aircraft in ForeFlight Insurance or use an aircraft from their ForeFlight logbook along with the airport where it’s located or where the customer flies from. For hull insurance coverage, ForeFlight Insurance connects to Windsock’s valuation service to help determine the aircraft’s value. For customers who don’t use the logbook, ForeFlight Insurance can look up aircraft information from FAA registration information. The customer can then add any other pertinent information such as avionics equipage, total time, and engine hours.
By tapping into the ForeFlight logbook, the insurance brokerage is able to streamline the application process, Hailey explained. “We don’t want you to have to use a PDF, [or move] numbers back and forth with a broker. It makes it as easy as possible to do that based on data that you already have within our system.”
For partnerships or adding another pilot to the policy, ForeFlight Insurance lets users invite another pilot via email so they can fill out their pilot history and have it attached to that application.
Once the application is complete, ForeFlight Insurance contacts underwriters. “Based on certain criteria, the expectation is that you could get up to four quotes in real time,” Hailey said, “defining real time as less than 60 seconds.” Some underwriters may respond that they will follow up with quotes a little later, usually on the same day, and they can indicate that they will respond, say, in 30 minutes to three hours, so the customer knows to expect a forthcoming quote.
The customer can then select liability limits, although ForeFlight Insurance will recommend limits that make the most sense for that aircraft and the pilot. Tool tips are available to provide instant definitions of terms, such as “in-motion” or “open pilot warranty.” The option to buy up more coverage for medical payments is also available.
Buying insurance coverage is simple and is done online. If an endorsement is needed, say, to cover the entity that owns the hangar being rented by the customer, that is instantly available. If the customer has any questions, they can chat with a human with the click of a button. “It’s actually licensed insurance agents who are sitting behind the scenes ready to answer those questions,” he said.
Apart from the information needed for the insurance application, ForeFlight Insurance does not tap into a customer’s ForeFlight flight plans, debrief scores, or ADS-B data. “You can review every single thing that an insurer received directly in this digital application that you sign before you proceed,” he said.
ForeFlight Insurance will be available on ForeFlight Web starting at EAA AirVenture, but the company won’t open up the service for everyone to start with. ForeFlight users will be invited to try out ForeFlight Insurance, and at Oshkosh, they can visit the ForeFlight exhibit to talk to the insurance team members.
“Our hope is we want to make this process as simple as possible,” Hailey said.

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ForeFlight Adds Aircraft Owners to Insurance Brokerage Offering

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Similar to how renter’s and instructor’s insurance works, ForeFlight Insurance simplifies the process of obtaining insurance quotes for aircraft owners. 

ForeFlight Adds Aircraft Owners to Insurance Offering

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