IADA Chair Notes Preowned Aircraft Markets are “Improving Dramatically” with No Large Price Drops

Recently, the International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA) held a members-only webinar to review where the preowned aircraft sales industry is amid the economic fallout from the Coronavirus pandemic. Subject experts from IADA member ranks discussed where the industry is and where it is heading.

“By and large, things are improving and improving pretty dramatically,” said IADA Chairman Paul Kirby, the executive vice president of QS Partners in Boulder, Colo. “May is generally better than April, and…we all anticipate June to even be significantly better than May. And so, the trends are all in the right direction.”

“The end of the travel restrictions, the end of the lockdowns, it’s all had the positive effect that we all hoped for,” he said. As far as aircraft sales prices are concerned, Kirby noted, “Generally speaking, those have been thoughtful, strategic price reductions that haven’t been completely out of whack and haven’t cratered any one specific market.

“He added, “For the first time we’ve heard a sentiment from a couple of different buyers…saying, ‘I’m afraid I’ve missed the bottom.’ And I don’t know if they’re right or not. I hope they are.”

IADA Executive Director Wayne Starling, in Boise, Idaho, reinforced that message: “In talking with a number of the dealers around the country this past week, everybody talked about two, three, four (deals). I mean I talked to different dealers and five claim they’re trying to close right now. So, I’m expecting our June numbers to really jump, and I’ll be really anxious to see the chart next month…because it appears as though the recovery is coming back at really high speed.

“An edited and shortened version of the IADA webinar is available for public viewing at: https://iada.aero/iada-state-of-the-industry-webinar-q3. The full webinar was viewed by more than 550 IADA members.

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