DREKAR

Knowledge Center · Pricing

How to Price Aircraft Detailing Services

Aircraft detailing pricing is not retail pricing. The cost of a wash, polish, or ceramic coating scales with airframe size, labor hours, crew composition, and whether the work is one-off or part of a fleet contract. This guide walks through a framework operators actually use.

January 15, 2026 · 9 min read

1. Anchor pricing to airframe size

Every quote starts with the aircraft. A King Air 200 is a different job than a Citation X, which is a different job than a Gulfstream G650. Most operators build a size tiering — light, mid, super-mid, heavy — and set base prices per service per tier. DREKAR CRM's catalog ships with these tiers preconfigured.

2. Convert services to labor hours

Behind every price is an estimate of crew hours. A premium exterior wash on a heavy jet might be 6 crew hours. A full polish might be 28. Quoting in labor hours lets you scale by crew size and price competitively without losing margin.

3. Layer in materials & consumables

Ceramic coatings, polishing compounds, and pH-neutral wash chemistry are real line items. Mark them at cost-plus or bundle them into the service price — never absorb them silently.

4. Adjust for location & access

Hangar vs. ramp, indoor vs. outdoor, daytime vs. overnight — all affect crew productivity. Build location modifiers into the quote rather than discovering them on the job.

5. Contract & fleet pricing

Recurring monthly or quarterly appearance programs justify a lower per-visit rate in exchange for predictable revenue. Track these as fleet contracts with per-aircraft pricing tiers.

Key takeaways

  • ›Tier by airframe size first, services second.
  • ›Quote in labor hours, then convert to price.
  • ›Materials are line items, not absorbed cost.
  • ›Build location & access modifiers into the quote.
  • ›Fleet contracts trade rate for predictability.

Frequently asked

What is the average price for aircraft detailing?+

Light single-engine exterior washes start around $150-$400. Mid-size turboprops and light jets typically range $600-$1,800 for a full exterior. Heavy jets and ceramic coatings can exceed $15,000. Pricing depends on airframe, labor hours, and materials.

How do I price a ceramic coating for an aircraft?+

Ceramic coatings are priced by total square footage of treated surface, prep time (paint correction can be the majority of the cost), coating product cost, and warranty length. A multi-stage application on a heavy jet typically runs $8,000-$20,000.

What software helps with aircraft detailing pricing?+

DREKAR CRM ships with an aviation-specific pricing catalog tiered by airframe size and configurable per organization, so quotes are accurate without spreadsheets.