International Aircraft Dealers Association

Preowned aircraft markets are 'improving dramatically' - IADA Chair

The International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA) held a members-only webinar recently to review where the preowned aircraft sales industry is amid the economic fallout from the Coronavirus pandemic. Subject experts from IADA member ranks discussed where the industry is and where it is heading.

Chairman Paul Kirby, the executive vice president of QS Partners in Boulder, Colorado commented: "May is generally better than April, and we all anticipate June to even be significantly better than May. And so, the trends are all in the right direction.

"The end of the travel restrictions, the end of the lockdowns, it's all had the positive effect that we all hoped for," he said. As far as aircraft sales prices are concerned, generally speaking, those have been thoughtful, strategic price reductions that haven't been completely out of whack, and haven't cratered any one specific market.

"For the first time we've heard a sentiment from a couple of different buyers saying, 'I'm afraid I've missed the bottom.' And I don't know if they're right or not. I hope they are."

IADA Executive Director Wayne Starling, in Boise, Idaho, reinforced that message: "In talking with a number of the dealers around the country this past week, everybody talked about two, three, four (deals). I mean I talked to different dealers and five claim they're trying to close right now. So, I'm expecting our June numbers to really jump, and I'll be really anxious to see the chart next month because it appears as though the recovery is coming back at really high speed."

Experts panelists include: President Joe Carfagna Jr. of Leading Edge Aviation Solutions in New Jersey; Founder Matt Bosco from Axis Jet in Sacramento, Calif.; Owner Clay Healy of AIC Title Service in Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Creator/Director Rollie Vincent of JETNET IQ in Dallas, Texas.