Originally Posted by TravisUK
Somewhat off topic, but I am curious. I heard that a majority of the airlines lease all of their aircrafts. Why do they do this? Doesnt it make sense to pay into something you can keep and invest into?
One reason involves taxes. If you're making little or no money, you have no use for the depreciation and amortization tax writeoffs that come with airplane ownership, but a big financial institution with lots of income could use those writeoffs. You can sell airplanes you own and lease them back, or the financial institution can buy new ones, often at a volume discount, and lease them to you.