emily.synan

Johan Blitz, Global Head of Corporate Aircraft Finance, UBS

How long have you been at your current organization?

11 years

What are your responsibilities within your organization?

I am the Global Head of Corporate Aircraft Finance for UBS. I launched the aircraft-financing product within UBS 11 years ago and since then have been able to successfully implement this product with an ever-increasing portfolio and team. My responsibilities revolve around our multi-billion USD portfolio and managing client and asset risks, but also are linked to marketing and product awareness to our Wealth Management arm. UBS is now considered one of the top financiers in the UHNW segment for corporate aircraft.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

I usually arrive in the office around 7am and immediately I start up my computer. Then I need a very strong coffee. And another one. Next I start to navigate through the jungle of emails. Depending on the content of the emails, the planning of the day starts (besides the scheduled internal and external meetings). I speak to my team and get an update on the business, internal projects and default cases. I also get an overview on payments received from our clients and depending on the status, may delegate some tasks to some colleagues. Due to the overall difficult market situation and deterioration of values, I speak on a daily basis to our internal stakeholders such as Risk, Legal and Compliance, and sometimes also with our Tax department. There are always ongoing internal projects that need to be discussed, prepared and presented. I’m often involved in complex cases, difficult discussions or strategic planning for new transactions.

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Product Overview

The wide-cabin high-speed Gulfstream G150 was designed, developed, and certified in a joint effort between Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) and Gulfstream Aerospace. The Gulfstream G150 lineage began with the Astra 1125, Astra SP, Astra SPX (1986 – 2002) produced by IAI and then Gulfstream acquired the production line and rebranded the line to the Gulfstream G100. The Astra SPX/Gulfstream 100 had the greatest speed and longest range compared to its competitors but not the cabin comfort needed for a US transcontinental mid- cabin business jet. Accordingly, Gulfstream decided to enlarge the cabin in the G100 from 304 cubic feet to 521 cubic feet in the G150.

As of September 2016, 36% of the Gulfstream G150 aircraft were purchased pre-owned by their current owners, the other 64% new. 5% are currently for sale with all of those (100%) under an exclusive broker agreement. When for sale, the average number of days on the market is 280.

Brief History

The Gulfstream G150 began production in 2005 and is still being produced presently. A total of 123 Gulfstream G150 aircraft have been manufactured with 119 of them in operation, one retired and 3 in various stages of the completion process including interior installation and exterior paint. Gulfstream Aerospace recently announced it has sold the last Gulfstream G150, marking the end of the mid-size aircraft’s more than 10-year production run. The final G150 will be delivered to a customer in mid-2017.

Worldwide Appeal

There are 119 Gulfstream G150 aircraft in operation today. Most of these are owned outright (116) with 11.8% currently leased. North America has the largest percentage of Gulfstream G150 aircraft (83%), followed by Europe (6%).

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28th October 2016. Raleigh, NC – Jetcraft today announced the appointment of Dan Kilkeary as Sales Director for the Northeast United States territory, effective immediately.  Dan joins Jetcraft from Dassault Falcon where he had served as the NJ/NY Metro Area Sales Manager since 2012.

In addition to Dan’s appointment to the industry leading Sales team at Jetcraft, Chris Hollingsworth has relocated from Europe to take on the South Central U.S territory. Chris, who has been with Jetcraft since 2009, will be based in Dallas, TX. The rest of the U.S. territory will continue to be covered by Chris Brenner (North Central U.S. & Canada), Marius Breitenbach (Western U.S.) and Victoria Barrow (Southeast U.S.).

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John Schwartz, Jetcraft
Location: Minneapolis, MN, USA

How long have you been at Jetcraft?

On October 9 I will have been here for 5 years.

What are your responsibilities within the global Jetcraft team?

I am responsible for internal oversight of Jetcraft’s owned inventory aircraft that are acquired either via an outright purchase or through a trade-in. I also provide Sales Engineer support for Chad Anderson (President) and Jahid Fazal-Karim (Owner and Chairman).

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

The only thing typical about my day is that it’s a-typical. Most days are spent responding to incoming requests from the sales team, and correspondence either related to Jetcraft’s owned inventory aircraft or with the Sales Engineer team. I work extensively with management and our technical advisors to ensure that we are up to date internally on the current status of each of the aircraft that we own and make sure that the entire Jetcraft team is updated.

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Ten-year forecast predicts ongoing challenges in emerging markets with continued North America dominance; Gulfstream projected to top OEM revenues with Pratt & Whitney Canada taking top spot for engine OEMs.

OCTOBER 12, 2016 (Raleigh, NC) – Jetcraft, the leader in business aircraft sales, marketing and ownership strategies, today released its second annual business aviation market forecast. The 2016 report calls for 7,879 unit deliveries representing $248 billion in revenues (based on 2015 pricing) to be realized over the next 10 years.

The forecast also examines key macroeconomic trends – a slowdown in wealth creation, the migration of ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) from emerging market economies and the fluctuation of oil prices – and evaluates the impact such factors will have on the business aviation sector througout the coming decade. Overall, this year’s predictions are lower than last year’s report in terms of deliveries and revenues. Yet, despite challenges, there are bright spots on the horizon led chiefly by continued growth of the North America market.

“Last year, we highlighted the unpredictability of our industry since 2008, and the impact of global events during the past 12 months have certainly continued this trend,” said Jetcraft’s Chairman Jahid Fazal-Karim. “As global factors continue to influence the business aviation market, we are uniquely positioned—through our 20+ offices worldwide—to qualitatively test our forecast’s assumptions and the impact of these global factors on the ground, providing a cumulative view that joins our analysis with real-world business transactions, ” he added.

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Product Overview

The Hawker 750 is a light-midsized business jet. With the same fuselage and wings as the midsize Hawker 800 series, the 750 offers the largest cabin in the light-midsize aircraft segment, plus more baggage space than its predecessor with 79 cubic feet of luggage storage.

As of September 2016, 35% of the Hawker 750 aircraft were purchased pre-owned by their current owners, the other 65% new. 18.8% are currently for sale with a portion of those (33%) under an exclusive broker agreement. When for sale, the average number of days on the market is 395.

Brief History

The Hawker 750 had its first flight on August 23, 2007 and was certified on February 19, 2008. Production ended in 2012 following completion of 48 deliveries.

Worldwide Appeal

There are 48 Hawker 750 aircraft in operation today. Most of these are owned outright (35) with 6.2% currently leased. North America has the largest percentage of Hawker 750 aircraft (63%), followed by Europe (26%).

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Alasdair Whyte, Editor and Co-founder, Corporate Jet Investor
[email protected]

How long have you been at your current organization?

Louisa Whyte (my wife) and I launched Corporate Jet Investor in 2010. We felt there was a need for an online magazine and conferences for the business jet market.

We spun out helicopters in 2012 and in 2016 launched a commercial aircraft version called Aircraft Investor. We also run a superyacht conference.

Although the business jet market was in a downturn in 2010, we were confident that we would be there for an upturn. We are still waiting.

What are your responsibilities within your organization?

I focus on the content (with Louisa managing pretty much everything else). This includes newsletters, longer articles and the agendas for different conferences. But we are a small business so we all get involved in lots of different things.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

If I am not travelling, I usually drop our children off at school. Louisa and I then often have a meeting whilst walking our office dog. When I get to the office I look at all of the major news stories that day. We divide up who is writing what and I will typically write a short opinion piece before lunch.

After lunch I might discuss some of the biggest issues in the market for one of our conferences. Most days involve a number of phone calls and a lot of emails. Some of these can be very late if I am dealing with the US or very early if Asia or Australia.

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Product Overview

The Gulfstream G280 is a twin-engine business jet built under license by IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries) for Gulfstream Aerospace. It retains the G200 fuselage design, but has otherwise been transformed with a larger wing, upgraded engines, and T-tail.

As of May 2016, 1% of the Gulfstream G280 aircraft were purchased pre-owned by their current owners, the other 99% new. 4.3% are currently for sale with all of those (100%) under an exclusive broker agreement. When for sale, the average number of days on the market is 106.

Brief History

The Gulfstream G280 was initially introduced as the G250 but was renamed in 2011. The G280 was provisionally certified in 2011 by Israel and received full certification from Israel and the U.S. in September 2012. Production began in 2011 and it is still being produced presently. A total of 103 Gulfstream G280 aircraft have been produced with 93 currently in operation and 10 in various stages of the completion process.

Worldwide Appeal

There are 93 Gulfstream G280 aircraft in operation today. Most of these are owned outright (91) with 18% currently leased. North America has the largest percentage of Gulfstream G280 aircraft (72%), followed by Asia (14%).

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Written by Fabrice Roger, former Jetcraft Sales Director, Latin America

Latin America has long been viewed as a key emerging market for business aviation, led by two major countries in the region, Brazil and Mexico. Political and economic pressures, however, intensified in the region in 2015, driven mostly by the slowdown of Brazil’s $US2.2 trillion economy, which is now moving from recession to depression. Once a powerhouse of the region, Brazil’s economy contracted sharply last year, while inflation soared and its currency plummeted. Although Mexico also experienced currency challenges of its own, the market for business aviation in Mexico has grown considerably in the past few years, unlike its southern neighbor.

While Mexico’s business jet market is in ascension, Brazil has taken a backseat in the region, due to recent political and economic turmoil that was intensified by a collapse in the oil and gas sector. Nonetheless, Brazil still offers a significant opportunity for business jet transactions, particularly for those seeking to divest their aircraft investments.

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