BizAv Weathering Latest Financial Storm

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The current economic turmoil likely won’t be felt much by the general aviation industry but that’s because things couldn’t really get much worse for GA manufacturers. Most analysts believe the roller coaster stock market will stabilize without affecting the bottom lines of most companies. Still, it’s another reason for those thinking of buying an airplane to pause in the process and that could have some impact on the manufacturers. Teal Group analyst Richard Aboulafia was interviewed by several publications over the past few days and he’s sticking to his basic prediction that meaningful recovery won’t be felt by GA companies until next year and even then it’s not clear what it will look like. Meanwhile, bizjet specialist Brian Foley says the recovery, once it does take hold, will be the very best kind of uptick.

Foley issued a release this week saying that the market for business jets looks nothing like the boom years that led to the collapse in 2008. “Today’s order books are of a much higher caliber, made up of those with the financial wherewithal to buy their own aircraft or by borrowers who have been heavily scrutinized by lenders and made meaningful down-payments,” the release says. “The possibility of large scale fleet cancellations is also greatly diminished in the present environment.” He noted there are no shaky air taxi or speculative charter ventures in the wings waiting to cancel huge orders that will gut company order books as happened in 2008.

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