Maintenance -The Fine Print

Did you ever read the fine print on the back of a maintenance repair order? When an aircraft goes into the shop, we expect the shop to work on our aircraft, do a good job with good parts, and charge us a fair price, but we forget about the risks inherent in any shop visit. The fine print often makes those risks the owner’s problem to the extent legally permissible.

What if your aircraft is damaged while in the shop? It may be a simple hangar ding or possibly a fire which destroys the aircraft. We assume the shop will take care of the loss and most of the time it does, but often the fine print limits that responsibility. It is common to have a limitation which says that the total risk for all shop losses is limited to a set dollar amount or limited to what the owner can collect from the shop’s insurer. The fine print may state that the owner’s insurer waives subrogation or that it will be primary which means that the Owner’s insurer pays for the aircraft damage as opposed to the shop’s insurer. If this is the case, it is always important to notify your agent before you sign the shop agreement; otherwise, you may end up without coverage for your loss.



Another risk is the repair not working correctly or not lasting for a reasonable length of time—a simple warranty question? We all expect the shop to use good parts which last for a reasonable time, and in most states this is a requirement in consumer transactions. However, shops frequently limit this responsibility. It is common to state that the shop will have no liability for parts which are sourced from a third party and that the owner will look solely to that third party for any defect in the part. There are also often provisions which state that a claim for a defect in material and workmanship must be made within a brief number of days which bars claims made after that date. If an aircraft is not flown regularly, it is easy to go past this date before noticing a problem. It is also common to limit recovery for the defect to repair of the defect and to prohibit recovery for consequential damages. This means that if a part is defective, the shop will replace the part, but will not pay you the cost of downtime or commercial flights because your aircraft is not available. It may not even pay you for other damage to the aircraft caused when the part broke. Sometimes laws limit these provisions but most often in a commercial setting, they are enforced.

The fine print may limit or reassign liability for injury to third persons or property. For example, a work order may state that after repairs are completed, the shop will be deemed an additional insured under the owner’s policy and that policy will be primary to any insurance provided by the shop. This provision is standard in any situation where a shop part is loaned for use on the owner’s aircraft while the owner’s part is being repaired.

Finally, the fine print often contains a lien in favor of a shop which goes well beyond a lien which might otherwise exist under the law. It may state that the shop has the right to keep the aircraft until all outstanding bills are paid in full, and this may cover prior bills unrelated to the current shop visit. To rub salt in the wound, many of these provisions contain a requirement that the owner pay interest and an aircraft storage fee while the dispute is being resolved.

The moral of the story is to read the fine print. If it contains language regarding liability or insurance, call your insurance agent or lawyer. It is important to remember that the fine print is part of your deal, and the reason the shop inserted the fine print was not to protect you, the owner.

Jack McInteer is a partner at the law firm of Depew Gillen Rathburn & McInteer, LC in Wichita, KS. Mr. McInteer is a specialist in Business and Aviation Law and can be reached at 316-262-4000 or at .

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