Charter agreements are signed quickly, usually under time pressure, frequently by someone who is not a lawyer and has thirty other things to arrange.
Two clauses account for the overwhelming majority of disputes. Both take a minute to read.
Substitution
Nearly every charter agreement permits the operator to substitute an alternative aircraft. This is necessary — aircraft go technical, and without a substitution right the operator’s only option is cancellation.
The question is how the right is drafted.
Language permitting substitution of “an aircraft of similar type or category” is extremely broad. Category can span a wide range of cabin sizes, ranges and ages. An aircraft that is technically the same category can be a meaningfully different experience, and on longer sectors it can be a different range capability requiring a fuel stop.
Where the specific aircraft matters — because of cabin configuration, because of range, because of who is travelling — name it, and narrow the substitution language to a defined list of acceptable alternatives or a requirement for your prior approval.
Operators generally accept this when asked before signature. Almost nobody asks.
Cancellation
Terms vary enormously and tighten sharply close to departure. Cancellation inside forty-eight hours is frequently at or near the full amount.
Read three specific things. What the schedule is at each point. What constitutes cancellation as opposed to a change of schedule, which are treated very differently. And whether there is any provision for cancellation caused by circumstances outside your control — illness, airspace closure, a counterparty cancelling the meeting you were flying to.
The last of these is where the negotiation is. Many agreements make no distinction between a client changing their mind and a client whose destination airport has closed. That distinction can usually be introduced if raised before signature.
Two clauses worth a glance
Ground transport. If the arrangement includes it, check whether the operator is contracting for it or merely arranging it, because that determines who is responsible when it fails.
Governing law and dispute resolution. Charter frequently involves parties in three or four jurisdictions. Know which law applies and where any dispute would be heard, particularly on larger arrangements.
The realistic approach
Nobody is going to conduct legal review on every charter. That is not the standard being proposed.
The standard is: read the substitution clause and the cancellation schedule before signing, every time. Two minutes. Those two clauses cover almost everything that goes wrong contractually.
And for a relationship you expect to repeat, negotiate the terms once, properly, at the outset. Then every subsequent booking runs against an agreed framework and nobody is reading contracts at 11pm.
That is how the family offices we work with prefer to operate, and it is the correct way round.
