Ferry pilot or fly it yourself?
Both get the airplane home. They trade off time, insurance, experience and risk in very different ways.
What are you actually deciding?
Flying a newly purchased or relocated airplane yourself sounds like the obvious choice for a pilot. Sometimes it is. The decision gets harder when the airplane is new to you, the trip is long, and the calendar is tight.
There is also a third option many owners overlook: flying it home yourself with an instructor, so the trip doubles as insurance transition training.
How do they compare?
| What matters | Hire a ferry pilot | Fly it home yourself |
|---|---|---|
| Your time away | None beyond paperwork | The full trip, often more than one day |
| Insurance | The pilot must fit your policy's pilot requirements | You must meet the policy's requirements, which may include dual hours first |
| Experience in type | A pilot current on the make and model | Often your first hours in the airplane |
| Weather decisions | Made by a professional with no deadline of their own | Made by you, with your own schedule pressure |
| Logbook time | Stays with the pilot | Counts toward your experience and currency |
| Cost structure | Flight time, fuel, fees and pilot travel | Fuel, fees, and your own travel to the airplane |
| Best fit | Busy owners, dealers, sellers and shops | Owners experienced in the type with a flexible calendar |
Who should hire a ferry pilot?
A ferry pilot tends to be the better fit when any of these are true. See aircraft ferry flights for how a trip works.
- Your insurance does not yet allow you to fly the airplane alone
- You have little or no time in this make and model
- The trip is long and your schedule cannot absorb weather delays
- You are a dealer, shop or seller moving an airplane that is not yours to learn
Who should fly it home themselves?
Flying it yourself tends to work well when you already meet your policy's requirements, have real experience in the type, and can leave the return date open. If you meet the first two but not the third, schedule around a flexible weather window before committing to a date.
Frequently asked questions
Is it cheaper to fly my airplane home myself?
On paper, usually, because you are not paying a pilot for flight time. In practice, the comparison has more parts than the pilot's day rate. Flying it yourself still means paying for fuel, airport fees and your own travel to the airplane, plus the days away from work or family, which have real value even if they never appear on an invoice. If your insurance requires dual instruction before you can fly the airplane alone, you will need an instructor on board anyway, and that changes the math entirely. Delays count too. A professional ferry pilot waiting out weather costs time on their calendar, while a weather hold on your own trip may mean rebooked flights, extra hotel nights and missed days back home. The fair comparison is total cost and total risk for the whole trip. For some owners, flying home with an instructor as transition training ends up being the best value of all three options.
What experience should I have before flying a newly purchased airplane home?
Enough to satisfy your insurance company, and enough to satisfy yourself, which are not always the same thing. Insurance sets a floor through its requirements for total time, time in make and model, and dual instruction. Federal regulations add endorsements for complex, high performance and tailwheel airplanes under 14 CFR 61.31, plus normal currency rules for carrying passengers and flying at night. Beyond those minimums, ask honest questions. Have you flown a trip of this length recently? Are you comfortable planning fuel stops and weather decisions in an airplane you have not flown before? Do you know the avionics in this particular panel well enough to use them under workload? If any answer is uncertain, flying with an instructor turns the trip into training instead of a test. There is no shame in that choice. Many experienced pilots fly their first long trip in a new airplane with an instructor for exactly these reasons.
Ready when your airplane is
Tell us where it is and where it needs to be
Send the tail number, the two airports, and when you need it moved. We will come back with a plan and a price.