Air Lease Corp predicts 45% of aircraft to be on operating lease by 2020

Air Lease Corp founder and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy predicted that airlines will increasingly rely on leasing companies as LCCs expand and banks demand higher margins to finance aircraft (Bloomberg, 12-Oct-2010). He predicted that by 2010, almost 45% of aircraft will be on operating leases, up from 34% in 2010. Less than 1% of airline fleets came from leasing companies in the 1970s. He added that B737s and A320s are more often on operating leases than under ownership of airlines, with more than 1,500 of the approximately 3,000 B737NGs on operating lease, with more than 2,000 of the 4,200 A319s, 320s and A321s on operating leases. In the wide-body market, 48% of B777s and A330s are on operating lease.