Jetrader - November/December 2008 - 3

Jetrader is a bi-monthly publication of The International
Society of Transport Aircraft Trading (ISTAT). ISTAT was
founded in 1983 to act as a forum and to promote improved
communications among those involved in aviation and
supporting industries, who operate, manufacture, maintain,
sell, purchase, finance, lease, appraise, insure or otherwise
engage in activities related to transport category aircraft.
Jetrader Published for:
International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading
401 N. Michigan Ave. Suite 2400
Chicago, IL 60611 USA
Tel: 312.321.5169
Fax: 312.673.6579
www.ISTAT.org
E-mail: istat@istat.org
ISTAT BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OFFICERS
Michael Platt President
Thomas W. Heimsoth Immediate Past President
John W. Vitale Vice President
Gregory A. May Vice President Treasurer
Connie Laudenschlager Vice President Secretary
DIRECTORS
Fred E. Bearden Anthony Diaz
Sigthor Einarsson Jay W. Hancock
Peter Huijbers Will Hudson
Joseph W. Ozimek Marc Allinson
Daniel J. Pietrzak Mark Pearman-Wright
Stephen T. Rimmer Jep Thornton
ISTAT INTERNATIONAL APPRAISERS' PROGRAM
BOARD OF GOVERNORS
Fred E. Bearden - Chairman Appraiser Fellow
Fred J.Klein - Chairman-Elect Senior Appraiser
Steve Boecker - Douglas Emerson
Albert A. Nigro - Jeffrey Tenen
Tony Whitty - Robert F. Agnew Senior Appraiser
William Bath Appraiser Fellow/Administrative Director/
ISTAT International Appraisers Program
ISTAT FOUNDATION
Stephen T. Rimmer Chairman
Michael Platt ISTAT President
Thomas W. Heimsoth ISTAT Past President
Robert Brown Vice Chairman
Gregory A. May Secretary Treasurer
TRUSTEES
Jon Batchelor Klaus Heinemann
Dana Lockhart James Morris
Roland H. Moore, Esq. Chris Partridge
Nick Popovich David P. Sutton
David Treitel Warren Willits
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT TRADING
Ron Pietrzak Executive Director
Ben Barclay Project Coordinator
Dana Henninger Member Services
Tracy Schorle Marketing and
Communication Services

from
the
president

Michael Platt, President
International Society of
Transport Aircraft Trading

For those of you who were not able to join the 425 of us who gathered in
Prague for ISTAT's 15th European Conference, you missed a great conference in a
great city. Sure, nobody was thrilled to watch the world's stock market's plunge,
watch banks get taken over by other banks or governments or watch those banks
that remained standing tell their customers that they were closed for further
business for the time being, but as veteran aviation ﬁnance professionals, we
have learned to make the best out of dire circumstances and enjoy a drink together under any circumstances.
Mark Pearman Wright and Tony Diaz, working closely with our Executive Director Ron Pietrzak and the terriﬁc ISTAT staff did an outstanding job for the
second year in a row putting together a conference with an impressive and informative group of speakers and memorable receptions. Special thanks to Philip
Lobkowicz of Babcock & Brown for allowing more than 400 of us into your beautiful family palace for our gala dinner. I know you will enjoy the conference
photos printed in this issue.
Although the books have not been closed on the Prague conference, our cochairs Joe Ozimek from Boeing and Sigthor Einarsson from Icelandair (supported
by many other board members) have already made signiﬁcant headway on the
program for our 26th Annual U.S. Conference, which will take place in Scottsdale, Ariz., on March 15-17, 2009. This year's ISTAT award winner will be Robert
Crandall, and many top industry professionals have already committed to speak
to our membership. Your board of directors is aware of the difﬁcult times many
of our members are facing and therefore I ask you now, while you are planning
your 2009 budgets, to make sure that if you are cutting back on your conference
attendance in 2009, that you make sure to include ISTAT in your 2009 plans. The
ISTAT March conference has become the most important conference of the year,
with close to double the attendance of any other aviation conference. In one
location you can meet with hundreds of industry colleagues, customers, vendors
and other professionals on whom your business depends. If you have attended
any of our recent conferences, you already know the value of the ISTAT conferences, which continue to be the least expensive conferences available thanks to
the generous sponsorships provided by many of you.
ISTAT is relevant in good times and bad. We always need the support of our
friends, customers and suppliers. We also always have an obligation to continue
to support our aviation students and institutions through the ISTAT Foundation.
Your board is working diligently to make sure that ISTAT continues to fulﬁll its
obligation to continue providing the best educational, networking and philanthropic organization in our industry.

Jetrader 3

http://www.ISTAT.org

Jetrader - November/December 2008

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