lease V purchase

[jhallam]

hi all.

after two bankrupctys i am now making cash  .

i have three aircraft all the same type.
im contemplating a 4th.

my question is, at what point shoudl i consider purchasing my own aircraft.
as soon as i can afford to, or should i continue to lease, until im bigger?

thanks

[Sigma]

Like the "Short v Long Route" discussion, there's merits to both Leasing and Buying.

With Leasing you can expand quicker.  This would be important if there's a lot of airlines around taking your routes.  If you can keep your margins high, this can be a good way to go; but when costs go up (like fuel) you can suffocate under the high leasing costs.

With Buying your expenses are lower, so, over time, you make more money and can be more competitive with a lower cost structure.  You can also borrow against your leased planes making large sums of money easier to attain and you have a nice means of generating cash in down times.  In short, you're extremely secure and are more difficult to put into bankruptcy.

[jhallam]

indeed, thanks for the info.