Is the aircraft leasing industry on the way to a perfect storm? Finding answers through a literature review and a discussion of challenges

Abstract

Since the emergence of the first private aircraft leasing companies in the 1970’s, the airline industry has undergone tremendous changes. Supported by several decades of growing demands and rising world economies, the share of leased aircraft across airlines worldwide has grown steadily, exceeding 50% for the first time during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that earlier research has quantified the optimal lease rate for an airline between 40% and 60%, the industry might be facing challenges soon — potentially counteracting the recent recovery from COVID-19. This study reviews the existing research on aircraft leasing; a subject which has been rather scattered in the literature for the past few decades. We summarize more than 70 scientific papers published on aircraft leasing and closely related subjects. Based on the dissection and categorization of existing studies, we derive a set of important challenges for the aircraft leasing industry, which should be addressed by the community.