IADA member, Keith Hayes with PNC Aviation Finance discusses business jet leases.
Has the aircraft lease market changed since the Great Recession? What are the popular lease types available to business jet owners? AvBuyer spoke with PNC’s Keith Hayes to discuss how leases can benefit certain companies and individuals.
Keith Hayes began a lengthy career in the finance sector with GE Capital in 1985, having joined straight out of college. Starting as an internal auditor, he held several roles within the company transitioning into a credit role and then into a sales/finance role covering a multitude of asset types.
In 2004 he joined the GE Corporate Aircraft group as the National Sales Manager and has been in the aviation finance sector ever since. Today as the National Sales Manager for PNC Aviation Finance, he is well placed to offer insights into the Business Aviation finance market. He is based at the company’s Boise, Idaho offices.
AvBuyer spoke with Keith to discuss the types of leases commonly available to prospective business jet owners; trends in the aircraft lease market; and advice to buyers considering lease as an option for their next business jet purchase.
AvBuyer: How has the aircraft lease market developed/changed over the past few years? Do you foresee further change in the short- to medium-term?
Hayes:The biggest changes have taken place post-recession. Prior to the recession, a lot of aircraft were leased under 10- to 12-year leases with flexibility for the lessee to terminate early within years 4-6 of the lease.
Following the recession, when aircraft values began to plummet, lessees generally found they were ‘under water’ in their leases. Many had no choice but to continue to lease the airplanes until the end of the lease term before returning them to the lessor (the bank).
This was not a positive experience for the lessee or the lessor. Due to the challenges associated with selling the returned aircraft, many lessors stopped offering lease products altogether. Others, PNC Aviation Finance included, continued to offer the product and, now that aircraft values are stabilizing (along with the recent changes in the tax laws), lessors are seeing an uptick in lease activity.
Looking ahead, there are changes taking place in certain accounting rules coming into effect in 2019 and 2020 that will cause leasing to not be as advantageous for financial reporting purposes.
Among the changes is a requirement from the Financial Accounting Standards Board for organizations that lease assets to recognize on the balance sheet the assets and liabilities for the rights and obligations created by those leases, and to provide disclosures to help investors and other financial statement users better understand the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases.
However, we believe aircraft leasing will continue to be a value-added structure for certain owners.
AvBuyer: We’re hearing various forecasts of continued growth in the new and used aircraft sales marketplace during 2019. Would you expect to see aircraft leasing influence the aircraft sales trends over the coming year? If so, how?
Hayes: I have always said that financing does not drive the behaviour of aircraft owner. The average aircraft owner changes their airplane every four-to-five years regardless of whether they paid cash, financed or leased their airplane.
Some would argue that when banking ‘became tight’ during the last recession, aircraft sales were impacted, but I question if this was truly a factor. Cash has been, and continues to be, the number one method of paying for an airplane.
But as the global economy continues to thrive, I anticipate our industry will continue to grow; as companies and wealthy individuals continue to have opportunities to deploy cash into high-return assets, they will elect to finance or lease as opposed to paying cash for a ‘non-earning’ asset. Meanwhile, the lease versus finance question typically is driven by the owner’s tax appetite or financial reporting needs, not simply the drive to buy or not buy.
AvBuyer: For those weighing-up whether a lease is right for them, what are the common lease options, and what type of aircraft owner is each tailored to?
Hayes: In short, there are two types of leases: A tax-oriented operating lease (in which the lessor owns the airplane for Federal Income Tax purposes); and a synthetic lease (in which the lessee owns the plane for Federal Income Tax purposes).
Typically, an owner may enter a synthetic lease for a variety of reasons, including deferral of state sales tax and/or financial reporting and off-balance sheet treatment. Under a synthetic lease, the lessee would have full availability of all tax benefits for Federal Income Tax purposes.
Meanwhile, an owner may enter a tax-oriented operating lease for the same benefits realized in a synthetic lease but, most likely, they would do so because they cannot fully utilize the tax benefits.
There are a number of reasons why this would be the case including their level of personal use, passive versus active income, carrying forward of net operating losses, and more. Under a tax-oriented operating lease, the tax benefits are ‘passed’ to the lessor, and the lessor in return offers a lower cost of funds to the lessee.
Commonly, these tax-oriented leases are structured with eight- to ten-year terms with early buy-out options at a point determined by the lessee.
AvBuyer: For those considering whether an aircraft lease is the route they want to take into aircraft ownership, what are the most important things for them to understand?
Hayes: There are a number of variables an owner would want to keep in the front of their minds when leasing an aircraft.
While the documentation process for a lease (versus that for a loan) is not overly complicated, there are certain conditions you want to make sure are ‘market’ ones, including the return provisions, usage provisions and reporting requirements.
Additionally, the inclusion of an early buyout in the lease is an option the lessor may or may not offer. It is up to the individual lessee and their specific requirements to decide if this option is important.
Also worth considering, some lessors have a tax appetite while others do not. The lessee should recognize a lower cost of funds which can be analysed through the early buy-out in exchange for passing the tax benefits to the lessor. If it appears the rate of return is equivalent to debt financing, it could mean the lessor has no tax appetite.
Lastly, in many states, sales tax is paid on the rentals via use tax (as opposed to upfront payment). This can result in a significant deferral and, in some cases, avoidance of sales tax altogether (i.e. if the lease is terminated at an early buyout point and the airplane is then sold, the use tax on the remaining rental is potentially avoided).
More information from https://www.pnc.com/en/corporate-and-institutional/financing/lending-options/pnc-equipment-finance/aviation.htm
This article was originally published on AvBuyer on January 7, 2019.