Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 29

‘You’re Late on the Payments!’
‘Airplane Repo’ reality TV show to air on Discovery Channel
By Nick Sohn

Nick Popovich, who runs sage-popovich inc. from its headquarters in Valparaiso, Indiana, has been in the airplane repo business for 30 years. © Discovery Communications, Inc.

Having repossessed almost 1,500 airplanes for clients, Nick Popovich now ﬁnds the task almost mundane and can’t understand why people are suddenly taking an interest in his formerly under-theradar career. “It just amazes me that there is interest in this,” said Popovich, who runs sage-popovich inc. from its headquarters in Valparaiso, Indiana. “We’re a relatively small company based in the Midwest, and in the last two years, there have been eight or 10 major articles written about me. I can’t ﬁgure it out, especially since we’ve been doing this for 30 years, and for 30 years nobody really cared.” But now, television and movie executives do care and are hoping to make Popovich a reality television star. The Discovery Channel aired an episode of “Airplane Repo,” a one-hour show that follows sage-popovich around the globe, in December, and the ﬁrst season of eight episodes will be launched sometime this year.

Popovich said his company is weighing an offer for a second season with 14 episodes, but he’s also in negotiations for a scripted show detailing one or two dozen of his most interesting repo jobs, and there are talks of a movie about his life and growing company. Among his most interesting tales from repo jobs: getting thrown in a Haitian jail and being deported from France. “It’s been an amazing career, far beyond what I could have ever imagined,” Popovich said. On one episode of “Airplane Repo,” Popovich’s team is hired to repossess a pair of leased Airbus A320s from a failing company and must race against the clock to reach each plane, valued at up to $48 million apiece, before that company can ﬁle for bankruptcy. Plane 87 is located in France, and Plane 88 in Turkey. Popovich’s crew must make engine repairs and deal with French customs ofﬁcials in order to ﬂy Plane 87 to the Azores archipelago in Portugal, then change the registration numbers on the plane’s Jetrader 29

Jetrader - March/April 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Jetrader - March/April 2011

Jetrader - March/April 2011
A Message from the President
Table of Contents
Calendar/News
Q&A: David Neeleman
Aircraft Financing 2011: Expanding Liquidity Meets More Deliveries
Mind the Generation Gap
Breaking Up is Hard(er) to Do
State of the Regions: North America
‘You’re Late on the Payments!’
Relationships Versus Brand Marketing in Aviation
Aircraft Appraisals
Aviation History
Advertiser.com/ Advertiser Index
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - Jetrader - March/April 2011
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - Cover2
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - A Message from the President
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 4
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - Table of Contents
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 6
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - Calendar/News
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - Q&A: David Neeleman
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 9
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 10
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 11
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - Aircraft Financing 2011: Expanding Liquidity Meets More Deliveries
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 13
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 14
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 15
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 16
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - Mind the Generation Gap
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 18
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 19
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 20
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - Breaking Up is Hard(er) to Do
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 22
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 23
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - State of the Regions: North America
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 25
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 26
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 27
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 28
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - ‘You’re Late on the Payments!’
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 30
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 31
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - Relationships Versus Brand Marketing in Aviation
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 33
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 34
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - Aircraft Appraisals
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 36
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 37
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 38
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 39
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 40
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - Aviation History
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 42
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 43
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 44
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - Advertiser.com/ Advertiser Index
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - 46
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - Cover3
Jetrader - March/April 2011 - Cover4
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