Parked aircraft: Lots of potential bargains Jul/Aug 2003

There are still plenty of readily available, modern, relatively cheap jets in storage for those many entrepreneurs who are considering an airline start–up.

The table below just shows those under 15 years old that are currently parked. These are the only aircraft that will definitely return to airline service at some point, and they represent under 25% of the apparent total surplus (for a discussion of global supply/demand see Aviation Strategy, April 2003).

While there is a great deal of interest in the narrowbodies, no one as yet has presented a viable plan to exploit the widebodies, especially the 747s, though there are several in the works. The 100–seaters — BAe 146s and F100s — languish despite very low lease rates.

The operator list is dominated by the US majors, bankrupts like Ansett and Air Lib, and all the leading leasing companies, which not only have parked aircraft but also other flying but not paying assets. A serious shake–out of this sector is inevitable, although the lessors' owners — the banks which misguidedly bought them up in the late 90s — may have to continue to bail out their subsidiaries out for some time in order to avoid totally distressed prices.