Surveyors of used aircraft entered the year with little else to do but cross fingers and hope that the market plunge brought to the doorstep of the New Year would abate. Buyers slowly began to perceive value as prices fell 30 to 50 percent from their previous lofty perches. It seemed that the press–which had for several months filleted business jet ownership–had run out of negative things to say. The effects of their efforts, however, spilled into this year and stymied productivity by some operations that became their targets. The hostility forced many to take an introspective look, which caused some to place their aircraft for sale, if for no other reason than to appease stockholders. Of course, in some cases this was just window dressing; as the year progressed and the negative press subsided, companies were able to redeploy their jets and get back to business.
One of the brightest spots early on was the heightened level of interest from buyers outside the U.S. While there has been no shortage of buyers globally in recent years, their advance on the U.S. market was more noticeable than usual, perhaps due to the curtailed buy initiatives of domestic buyers. Foreign buyers began taking advantage of a battered used aircraft market and the weak dollar in relation to their own currencies. In fact, at this year’s NBAA Convention a foreign contingent was quite noticeable, perhaps due only to a lower turnout of U.S. attendees than in years past.
