Michael Fleming Partner

mfleming@wicks-group.com
202-457-7790 (office)
571-438-8887 (mobile)

Michael Fleming is a Partner at The Wicks Group, PLLC, with more than 25 years of experience in the aviation sector. Michael specializes in serving business aviation, airports, and airlines, and has extensive experience advising airports, service providers, private flight departments, airlines, charter operators, and maintenance organizations on regulatory compliance. Michael also leads the firm’s commercial transactions practice and is skilled at negotiating and documenting aircraft transactions and other complex agreements. He also has experience assisting foreign governments with regulatory development related to the aviation sector.

Prior to joining The Wicks Group, Michael was a Partner at another aviation firm. He also worked for several years as a financial analyst and aircraft purchasing specialist for United Airlines and for an executive aircraft manufacturer.

Representative Experience

• Advising airport authorities and a major Fixed-Based Operator chain on numerous legal and regulatory matters, including airport grant assurances and regulations
• Serving as an expert witness on federal statutes and grant assurances governing the use of airport revenues at US airports
• Advising air carriers on legal and regulatory matters, including fleet acquisitions/disposals, financing, and leasing
• Negotiating and documenting aircraft purchase and sale transactions on behalf of dozens of business aircraft operators, including the development of operating structures that comply with the Federal Aviation Regulations governing joint ownership, timesharing, interchange, demonstration flights, inter-company use and dry leasing
• Leading the negotiation and documentation of numerous US Export-Import Bank-guaranteed commercial aircraft purchase/sale and loan/lease transactions, representing foreign air carriers as borrower
• Advising corporate flight departments and private aircraft operators on regulatory compliance, ownership structure, and operational matters
• Advising a leading airport management company on multiple commercial arrangements, as well as on compliance with relevant federal regulations governing US airports, including in some cases coordination with regional FAA airport district offices