Are you in the market for an aircraft? If so, odds are you’re either soaking in cash or do not have nearly enough. Don’t get worried if it is the latter: If your credit is great, you could always borrow the money.
Airplane loans are financing arrangements, much like home or car loans, that allow people and companies to purchase and use aircraft. Since aircraft are usually very pricey, aircraft loans are very common in the air travel world.
Aircraft loans vary from the fairly simple to the complex. At the simple end are loans for private and corporate aircraft; at the complex end are the loans industrial airlines use to buy their aircraft fleets. The easiest loans are those used for corporate and private aircraft; the more complex are used by business airlines to purchase and maintain their fleets. The less difficult loans are more like auto loans or home mortgages, while the complex loans are more just like maritime or project financing.
Here’s a look at how it works when you use a loan to buy a private or business aircraft. The very first step is to provide the lender (probably a bank or financing organization) data about yourself and the plane you are planning to buy. Next, the lender appraises the aircraft’s value and performs a title search to ensure the aircraft is owned free and clear and may change hands without issues. The lender then prepares a security agreement, which gives the lender a security interest in the airplane, and a promissory note, making you responsible for whatever portion of the aircraft loan cannot be repaid by repossessing the aircraft. A surety, much like a co-signor, might be necessary if you have questionable credit. If you have shaky credit, the lender might also require a surety, much like a co-signor.
This easy loan plan is adequate for those purchasing private and business aircraft, which are comparatively cheap compared to larger aircraft. The large jets flown by commercial airlines, by comparison, are very costly. In 2011, Boeing priced its 747 passenger and carrier jets at $333 million, although airlines don’t typically pay the full price.
There’re three common methods used by air carriers to finance their fleets: direct lending, operating leasing and financing leasing. Cash payments, tax leases as well as manufacturer assistance are alternative options.
Direct lending is similar to the conventional aircraft loans given to private owners, just on a bigger scale. This generally involves a number of banks chipping in to create a single loan for an airline. Here, as with private aircraft loans, lenders generally demand a security interest in the aircraft thus they may repossess it if the loans go unpaid.
With operating leasing, rather than direct lending, the airlines do not get ownership of the aircraft. The airlines instead lease used aircraft from so called Commercial Aircraft Sales and Leasing organizations, or aircraft lessors. These leases are usually short-term, no more than ten years, and they are most attractive to small airlines and start-up ventures since costs are decreased and the airlines do not need to hold onto the aircraft beyond its usefulness.
The 3rd type of aircraft loan used by airlines, referred to as finance leasing, is actually a more complex kind of operating leasing. Using debt and equity funding, third parties (partnerships or special purpose companies) buy aircraft and lease them to airlines. Often the airline has automatic ownership, or the option to purchase, when the lease expires.