Our Story

in the cockpit, since 1972

planesworth™ founder Stephen J. Coo­nan, Sr. spe­cial­izes in air­craft val­u­a­tion and acqui­si­tion. Before spending his time in databases, “Senior” entered aviation in the cockpit. The majority of his early flights Mr. Coonan piloted the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, serving his country for the United States Air Force.

After spending his time in the Air Force, Mr. Coo­nan transferred his aeronautical passion and acumen to the corporate aviation industry. Decades later, as a corporate pilot, he had flown all over he world, estab­lishing an inter­na­tional clien­tele from Hong Kong, Dubai to Moscow.

Now, nearly half a century later, Mr. Coonan continues to serve his corporate aircraft community as Senior Air­craft Appraiser of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA). He and his group are com­pli­ant with the Uni­form Stan­dards of Pro­fes­sional Appraisal Prac­tices (USPAP). His range of air­craft appraisal expe­ri­ence includes, to name a few, Boe­ing Busi­ness Jets, Gulf­streams, Lear­jets, Chal­lengers, Hawk­ers, Fal­cons and Cita­tions. In the past twenty years, he has com­pleted over $9 bil­lion in air­craft valuations.

When requested, Mr. Coo­nan also per­forms air­craft appraisals for tax deductible dona­tions to avi­a­tion train­ing schools and muse­ums. Mr. Coo­nan has a life­long aca­d­e­mic and prac­ti­cal back­ground in mil­i­tary, cor­po­rate and air­line avi­a­tion. He holds a Bach­e­lors Degree in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion from Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­sity and is an Air­line Trans­port Pilot with sev­eral type ratings.

In the past three years alone, he has acted as agent for either the buyer or the seller in the acqui­si­tion of sev­eral cor­po­rate air­craft, val­ued at over $100 mil­lion. Mr. Coonan’s port­fo­lio includes the pri­vate wealth man­age­ment clients of sev­eral For­tune 50 banks and cor­po­ra­tions, includ­ing Citibank, Mer­rill Lynch, Gold­man Sachs, Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank.

Mr. Coo­nan has also per­formed work for the Inter­nal Rev­enue Ser­vice regard­ing celebrity use of cor­po­rate jets and was even asked to per­form an appraisal of Bernie Madoff’s pri­vate air­craft in the ongo­ing dis­so­lu­tion of assets man­dated by the court.

“We focus on building value into your corporate aviation experience. I look forward to hearing your unique position within our industry and how I can assist you and your clients.”

Onward & Upward,

SJC.

Stephen J. Coonan, Sr., ATP, NCSA USPAP Certified Aircraft Appraiser Founder, planesworth™

“My aim is to supplement my father’s acumen of the corporate aviation industry with my passion for its assets & capital markets. This coupling helps our clients acquire the right assets for their portfolios.”

In Service,

Junior

Stephen J. Coonan, Jr., Analyst, planesworth™