Jetrader - January/February 2009 - (Page 14) Financiers’ View of Money Worries W Aircraft financing and the global financial crisis By Walt Skowronski President, Boeing Capital Corporation ith respect to the current global financial crisis, aviation has been very fortunate compared to other industries in terms of the impacts to date. Even as AIG, Lehman Brothers and many other institutions have faltered, our industry has, for the most part, continued to attract very efficient financing. A primary reason for our industry sustaining relatively little damage to date has been demand. The strength of the current aviation production cycle has allowed us to weather reasonably well the previous challenges to come our way in the last 18 months—the high price of oil and the credit crisis triggered by the U.S. subprime meltdown. Even though we have seen material easing of fuel prices, Boeing and the airlines around the world recognize that the long-term outlook for the price of fuel has now moved up to a higher, more expensive plateau. New fuel-efficient aircraft now have a higher demand premium than during the days of cheap oil. Having a balanced distribution for demand—driven by geographic diversity as opposed to being confined to a U.S., European or Asian centric market—has been a marked difference in this current cycle. At year end 2007, industry conditions were largely satisfactory, with little concern outside the public debt and U.S. capital markets. Through February 2008, conditions held steady with the few exceptions of: rising concern among commercial banks, private equity sources and hedge funds. Since then, additional warning signs have appeared. The credit crunch 14 The official publication of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading
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