Strengthening finance and operations for a private aviation operator

Meridian had built a stronger and more diversified aviation business, but the systems supporting management decisions were not keeping pace with operational complexity. It was too difficult to move cleanly from day-to-day activity into reliable financial reporting, and that made it harder for leadership to see how aircraft-level performance translated into company-level results.

The same issue extended into commercial terms. In reviewing owner agreements, it became clear that some contract structures limited Meridian’s ability to recover billable expenses incurred on behalf of aircraft owners. Over time, this created leakage between the costs the business was carrying and what it could actually recover. Management needed a stronger finance foundation, cleaner operational reporting, and a clearer view of how systems, contracts, and economics fit together.

1. Strengthening the finance foundation

The first phase of the work focused on making Meridian’s finance setup more useful for decision-making. Working alongside the internal team, we reviewed how information moved from daily operations into the ledger and then into management reports. Based on that review, the existing setup was simplified and migrated onto a more modern accounting system that could support cleaner monthly reporting without adding unnecessary complexity for users.

The focus was not on changing the mechanics of individual entries for its own sake, but on improving the clarity and consistency of information. We tightened the way activity was captured so revenue, direct costs, and key overheads could be viewed more consistently across the main parts of the business. Month-end routines were also formalised so management accounts could be produced more quickly and with fewer follow-up questions.

2. Improving the link between operations and finance

Alongside the finance work, we looked at how operational activity was being captured. The legacy aviation software and manual processes made it difficult to record trips, allocate costs, and generate reliable reports. We supported the adoption of modern software platforms to handle core operational workflows and link them more cleanly to billing and finance.

We supported Meridian in configuring the new software platforms, mapping them to the new accounting system, and integrating them so operational activity would flow through into financial reporting with less manual intervention and greater consistency. This reduced reliance on fragmented manual processes and gave management a cleaner picture of how day-to-day activity affected financial results.

3. Tightening commercial terms around owner agreements

In parallel, we reviewed the agreements Meridian had in place with aircraft owners. The analysis showed that in many cases the contract structure limited Meridian’s ability to pass through reimbursable expenses incurred on behalf of owners. Over time, this had created leakage between the true economics of operating and managing aircraft and the amount the business was able to recover.

We worked through the main agreement types, highlighted the clauses constraining reimbursement, and recommended practical changes to contract structure so future and renewed agreements would better reflect the underlying economics. This helped management think more clearly about how commercial terms, operating activity, and financial outcomes needed to align.

4. Evaluating a strategic on-airport platform opportunity

With a stronger foundation in place, Meridian began exploring the acquisition of an on-airport FBO operator at a strategic location. Management wanted to understand whether the opportunity could complement the existing charter, management, and maintenance businesses and provide a sensible path toward greater service integration.

We built a focused model combining the target’s economics with Meridian’s current and expected activity. Rather than overengineering the analysis, the work concentrated on a practical set of corporate finance questions: when the acquisition would meet Meridian’s return expectations, how it would affect cash and risk in the early years, and what would need to be true for the platform to strengthen the business rather than simply add scale.

Because the finance environment, treatment of reimbursable expenses, and link between operational systems and accounting had already been improved, management had a much cleaner base of information from which to evaluate the opportunity. That made it easier to see how owner agreements, pass-through costs, and field-level operations would interact with the economics of an on-airport platform.