In addition to OGARAJETS, other first year member companies who are now IADA Accredited Dealers are known today as Gantt Aviation, Duncan Aviation, JBA Aviation, Leading Edge, General Aviation Services, QS Partners, and Eagle Aviation. Additional early members were Jack Prewitt & Associates, Aerosmith Penny, Austin Jet, Jet Transactions, Jim Markel & Associates, Express One, and Sacramento Aviation.
Starting NARA was tough. It took a huge amount of time away from the group’s businesses to get organized, and it cost a lot of money. It was a challenging time.
Tough in the Beginning “It was hard work. And as they say, it was probably the best of times. We had great, great synergy amongst us. We were very selective as to who we offered memberships. We wanted to make sure that people had been in business. They had proven themselves to be good at what they did. They had the right business ethics and they were the kind of people we wanted to do business with,” Foster said.
“And the amazing thing we saw then was how much great talent there was. Some of these people I had done business with. Some I didn’t know very well at all. It was just amazing how much synergy we had and the care for our businesses and the care for our industry, and what great ideas came from all of these different people,” he added.
Fast forward to 2021. Different chairmen have served as leaders of the organization every year since that 1991 founding. They’ve had great ideas as the organization has matured. And the impact on the industry has been profound.
A Dynamo Today Today IADA has a thoroughly global outlook that reflects its worldwide influence on the private aircraft transaction industry. IADA has created the first accreditation program for aircraft dealers, administered by an impartial third party to rigorous professional standards of expertise and ethics.
As it celebrates its 30th anniversary, IADA is a powerhouse global cooperative network consisting of the world’s only accredited dealers and IADA-certified brokers, major OEMs and industry leading verified products and services members. While IADA’s entry bar is high, there are now nearly 50 IADA-accredited dealers, over a hundred IADA-certified brokers, more than 60 IADA-verified products and services members, and nearly all the major OEM business aircraft manufacturers.
Comprising only seven percent of the world’s business jet dealers, IADA dealers buy and sell more aircraft by dollar volume than the rest of the world’s dealers combined, averaging over 700 transactions and $6 billion in annual volume. Recently, IADA members actually registered over 1,200 global transactions, worth more than $10 billion, in the 12-month period from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021. Importantly, this occurred during uncertain economic times in the midst of the pandemic.
Exclusive Online Marketplace AircraftExchange is IADA’s online marketplace and the industry’s premier source of exclusive aircraft for sale or lease by IADA dealers. IADA’s robust listing verification process ensures that unlike some other online advertising venues there are no duplicates, no phantom listings and no aircraft advertised that are not truly for sale.
IADA and AircraftExchange’s global collective network improves the efficiency, transparency, integrity, and costs associated with preowned aircraft transactions. For more info about it, go to www.AircraftExchange.com.
IADA U IADA also has implemented IADA U, an online continuing education tool to keep certified brokers at the top of their game. Its curriculum includes coursework developed and taught by expert IADA products and services members who know their subjects inside and out.
Professional Standards Those dual professional recognition programs – accreditation for dealers and certification for their brokers – are the backbone of IADA’s professionalism and rigid standards of ethical behavior. When business aircraft owners are looking to buy or sell an airplane, the IADA imprimatur signals professionalism and expertise.
IADA Foundation In the past year, the IADA Foundation received tax-exempt status, and it continues to support philanthropic programs that enhance the industry, including providing scholarships for college students studying for careers in business aviation.
Working for business aircraft owners globally, IADA provides a facility for professional standards, ethics and exchange of information among its members and to the public for the purpose of creating a more efficient market, facilitating transactions and providing transparency in transactions, thereby increasing business aircraft ownership and usage worldwide. For more info about IADA go to www.IADA.aero.
|
IADA Co-founder John Foster