Ferry flying

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title: "Ferry flying" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["aircraft-operations", "aviation-by-mission", "aircraft-ferrying"] description: "Logistical aviation flight" topic_path: "general/aircraft-operations" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferry_flying" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Logistical aviation flight ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/BellCH135135TwinHuey.JPG" caption="Depot Level Inspection and Repair]] at [[Bristol Aerospace]] in 1988."] ::

Ferry flying or a positioning flight is the flying of aircraft for the purpose of returning the aircraft to base, delivering it to a customer, moving it from one base of operations to another, or moving it to or from a maintenance facility that includes maintenance, repair, and operations.

A commercial airliner may need to be moved from one airport to another to satisfy the next day's timetable or facilitate routine maintenance. This is commonly known as a positioning flight or repositioning flight, and may carry revenue freight or passengers as local aviation regulations and airline policies allow. Such flights may be necessary following a major weather event or other similar disruption which causes multiple cancellations across an airline's network resulting in many aircraft and crew being out of position for normal operations; the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull or the mass evacuation of US airspace following the 9/11 attacks being significant examples of this.

Ferry permit

A ferry permit is a written authorization issued by a National Airworthiness Authority to move a non-airworthy civil aircraft from its present location to a maintenance facility to be inspected, repaired and returned to an airworthy state.

Ferry pilots

Louise Sacchi flew single- and multi-engine planes 340 times across both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, breaking several records in the process.

Other notable ferry pilots include:

• Helen Marcelle Harrison Bristol
• Lettice Curtis
• Maureen Dunlop de Popp
• Mary Ellis, WWII pilot in the United Kingdom
• Nathan Fielder, comedian who featured himself ferry flying on season 2 of The Rehearsal (TV series)
• Luis Fontés
• Joan Hughes
• Amy Johnson
• Jim Mollison
• Robert Neale
• Robert Olds
• Jarvis Offutt
• Jadwiga Piłsudska
• C. W. A. Scott
• Diana Barnato Walker
• Margrit Waltz

References

References

1. Crane, Dale. (1997). "Ferry flying". Aviation Supplies & Academics.
2. Claiborne, Matt. (20 July 2020). "What Are Ferry Flights and Positioning Flights".
3. "Highlights of Louise Sacchi's Aviation History". [[The Ninety Nines]].

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