| wjcandee |
09-02-2020 04:17 PM |
There are a thousand things wrong with this article. The only difference between then and now is that instead of dry leasing the aircraft under long-term leases after conversion managed by the lessor, it appears, and really only appears at this point, that Amazon has decided to start purchasing the aircraft and perhaps to manage the conversions itself. That's a financial decision that might well be driven by the fact that Amazon's cost of capital is very low, to the point that a leasing company couldn't match it, and the market is pretty optimal for purchasing used widebodies at a good price right now. There is no indication that, at least at this point, anything is going to be different about how this aircraft is operated or by whom. It's at LCQ (HAECO, which does outsourced maint for ATSG) prior to being sent for conversion. What will be most interesting to see is whether IAI has any conversion slots left at TLV or MEX in the near future, given the pace of conversions being sent to them by both DHL and ATSG. If not, then we might see these aircraft headed off to QPG or TPE for conversion by Boeing.
There is a second retired WestJet ex-Qantas 767-300 that arrived in the last day or two at LCQ. It is not a stretch to think that Amazon is buying all four that WestJet retired. It also suggests that they are not done adding 767-300s beyond the 11 that they are dry leasing from CAM for delivery in 2021. Wouldn't make sense to start bringing the conversion management in-house, if they do that, if they were just going to do one or two more.
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