Across the pond – The state of the world’s biggest jet market

The US market is leading the way out of the global recession right now. After almost a decade of of coping with downturns, aircraft brokers in the US are more confident now in the prospects for the coming year than ever before.

The popular public perception of business aviation in the UK is among the industry’s biggest problems:  it has a “toys for rich boys” reputation. Ford Von Weise, global head of aircraft finance, at Citi Private Bank said that the US has a different view,  private aviation is understood as having more of a utility role. Whilst the view of the market is more as a business tool in the US, the general public still sees it as a high-class luxury asset.

October 2016 was when we saw the market turn, said Johnny Foster, president and CEO of OGARAJET. It started with enquiries that turned into transactions last year, reaping the benefits of growing confidence.

Edward Gross, shareholder at Vedder Price said: “General consensus is that things are good.”

US-centric dynamics have had the greatest impact on the business jet market. As was the case in yesterday’s sessions, the major point of discussion was the 100% depreciation tax break on new aircraft– an incentive to manufacturers as well as buyers.

With the induction of Trump, a focus turned to deregulation, the US jet market has seen to benefit greatly from this, said Rene Banglesdorf, co-founder and CEO of Charlie-Bravo Aviation. The Trump Bump was certainly felt in the Jet market.

On the brokerage front, Foster thinks the industry has reached a point of maturity where it is crying out for a level of standardisation. The panellists were unanimous: the market is certainly recovering, especially in the US, but there has never been a recent time when the market could change so drastically, so quickly – the panel agreed.