The Work Has to Hold at Altitude, Not Just on the Bench.
Protecting repair stations, mechanics, and the aircraft in their care
Repair stations and maintenance organizations inspect, repair, overhaul, and return aircraft to service — and their signature exposure is the one that follows the work into the sky. Faulty maintenance, a missed inspection, or a defective part installed on the bench can cause an in-flight failure or a crash long after the aircraft leaves the hangar, and the resulting products and completed-operations claim is catastrophic in severity. Sitting alongside that is hangarkeepers liability: customers' high-value aircraft are in the shop's care, custody, and control the entire time they are being worked on. Aircraft maintenance and MRO risks need coverage built around completed operations and hangarkeepers, placed through the same specialized market as the rest of aviation insurance.
Properly structured coverage protects the repair station, its mechanics, and every aircraft that passes through the shop.
The MRO's Signature Exposures
Aviation products and completed operations is the defining exposure — a weld, a torque value, a component swap, or an airworthiness sign-off that is wrong can cause an engine failure, a control malfunction, or a structural failure in flight, and the claim surfaces after the work is done and the aircraft is airborne, which is why completed-operations limits and tail exposure carry the heaviest weight. Hangarkeepers liability is the second: a repair station routinely holds turbine and jet aircraft worth millions in its care, and a shop fire, a towing accident, a dropped component, or a tooling strike can destroy an aircraft the shop does not own. Premises, tooling and parts inventory, maintenance test flights, and FAA enforcement exposure round out a risk where a single error can leave the bench and never come back.
Key Risks for Aircraft Maintenance Organizations
Aircraft maintenance and MRO businesses face exposure related to:
Faulty maintenance or repair causing an in-flight failure or crash — completed operations, and catastrophic in severity
Damage to a customer's high-value aircraft while it is in the hangar or shop
A defective or improperly installed part that fails in service
Maintenance and functional test flights conducted after the work
Premises, tooling, and specialized equipment used in the shop
FAA enforcement, certificate action, and airworthiness findings
Metal, chemical, and solvent exposure to mechanics on the floor
The faulty-maintenance completed-operations failure and the hangarkeepers loss of a customer's aircraft are what most define the shop.
Core Coverages for Aircraft Maintenance & MRO
A properly built MRO program typically includes:
Aviation Products / Completed Operations Liability — Covers in-flight failures and crashes traced to the shop's maintenance, repair, or installed parts, written at high limits because this is the catastrophic exposure.
Hangarkeepers Liability — Covers physical damage to customers' aircraft in the shop's care, custody, or control, set to the value of the highest-value aircraft on site.
Aviation Premises Liability — Covers third-party injury and damage arising from the hangar and ground operations.
Commercial Property — Covers the hangar, tools, test equipment, and shop contents against fire and other loss.
Inland Marine — Covers specialized tooling, test benches, and parts in the shop and in transit.
Workers' Compensation — Provides legally required coverage for mechanics' injuries, lifting and crush hazards, and chemical and solvent exposure.
Commercial Auto — Covers tow vehicles, service trucks, and ground-support equipment on and off the field.
Umbrella / Excess Liability — Adds higher limits above the primary program given the crash-severity ceiling on completed operations.
What's Commonly Overlooked
MRO programs are most often weakened by:
Completed-operations limits set far below the value of the aircraft the work could bring down
Hangarkeepers limits below the value of the turbine or jet aircraft actually in the shop
No coverage for the maintenance or functional test flight conducted after the repair
Tooling and test equipment under-scheduled on inland marine
Defense and FAA-enforcement exposure treated as an afterthought
The gap that hurts most is completed-operations coverage too low for an in-flight failure traced back to the bench.
Real-World Claim Examples
A missed inspection or improper repair leads to an in-flight failure and a crash
A customer's jet is damaged by a shop fire or a towing accident in the hangar
A defective component installed during overhaul fails weeks after return to service
An aircraft is damaged on a post-maintenance functional test flight
A dropped engine or tooling strike destroys a high-value airframe on the bench
A mechanic suffers a crush or chemical-exposure injury during a heavy check
Any one of these can be catastrophic, and the completed-operations and hangarkeepers claims are the most distinctive.
Regulatory & Safety Context
Repair stations are certificated by the FAA under 14 CFR Part 145, which governs the station's ratings, facilities, equipment, personnel, and quality system, while mechanics hold FAA airframe-and-powerplant (A&P) certificates and inspection authorization under Part 65. Maintenance must comply with airworthiness directives and manufacturer service bulletins, and every return to service is a certificated airworthiness determination with enforcement consequences if it is wrong. Shops performing work on defense or export-controlled articles fall under ITAR and export-control obligations, and OSHA governs the hazards of the hangar floor. Carriers in the aviation market mirror these standards closely when they underwrite a station.
Why Proper Placement Matters
Underwriters weigh the station's ratings and scope of work, the aircraft types it touches — piston, turbine, and jet escalate severity sharply — the mix of line maintenance versus heavy checks and overhauls, test-flight activity, the value of aircraft held in the hangar, quality systems, and loss history. Because an in-flight failure traced to the bench is catastrophic, completed-operations and hangarkeepers limits are set by crash severity and aircraft value, not by revenue, and the risk is placed through specialty aviation underwriters in the excess-and-surplus market rather than the standard market. Matching limits to the aircraft the shop can bring down, and presenting the quality system well, is what keeps the coverage sound.
Our Approach
At Cory Washington & Co., we place aircraft maintenance and MRO coverage through the specialized aviation market it requires — sizing products and completed-operations limits to crash severity, setting hangarkeepers to the real value of aircraft in the shop, and coordinating premises, property, inland marine, workers' compensation, and umbrella around how the station actually works. We also insure related operations, including aircraft owners, airport service businesses and FBOs, and the broader aviation category.
The work leaves your hangar and keeps flying — we build coverage that follows it into service and into every customer's aircraft you touch.
All insurance descriptions on this website are provided by Cory Washington & Co. LLC strictly for general informational purposes. They are not intended to be, and should not be relied upon as, legal, financial, or insurance advice. The information presented is general in nature and does not guarantee the availability, terms, conditions, or scope of any insurance coverage. Actual coverage is determined solely by the specific policy language issued by the insurer and remains subject to underwriting approval. Nothing on this website creates or implies an agent-client relationship, binds coverage, or alters any existing policy. Cory Washington & Co. LLC expressly disclaims any liability for actions taken, or not taken, based on the content provided here. For advice regarding your particular situation, please consult directly with a licensed insurance professional at Cory Washington & Co. LLC or another qualified insurance professional, and always review your policy documents in full.
See the coverages an aircraft maintenance & mro business may carry — core, prevalent, and situational — plus the gap most often missed, in the Aircraft Maintenance & MRO Coverage Checklist.
Complete the Aircraft Maintenance & MRO Supplemental online in a few guided steps, download the fillable PDF, or browse all applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get aircraft maintenance & mro insurance through Cory Washington & Co.?
Request a quote or contact our team. We start with a short conversation about your operations, analyze your exposures, then negotiate aircraft maintenance & mro insurance across multiple carriers that compete for your account and present options with the trade-offs explained. Cory Washington & Co. LLC is licensed in all 50 states.
What does aircraft maintenance & mro insurance cost?
There is no flat rate. The cost of aircraft maintenance & mro insurance reflects your industry, your size (payroll and revenue), your claims history, and the limits and deductibles you choose. We market your account to multiple carriers, compare the real quotes side by side, and explain what is driving each number so you can weigh coverage against price with confidence.
Is aircraft maintenance & mro insurance required?
It depends on your situation. Some coverage is required by law; more often, aircraft maintenance & mro insurance is required by a contract, lease, lender, or client before they will do business with you — and even when it is not mandated, it guards against exposures that can be severe. We review your operations and obligations and tell you plainly what you need and why.
What if another agency has already declined or non-renewed my coverage?
Difficult, specialty, and previously-declined placements are a core part of our work. We access excess & surplus (E&S) and specialty markets that many generalist agencies cannot, and we explain the trade-offs clearly so you can decide with confidence.
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