Plane dealing Boeing aircraft traders employ used airplanes to create a competitive advantage By John Kvasnosky Renowned for its commercial air-plane products, Boeing is the first stop for many buyers looking for a good, previously owned jetliner. And Frank Duckstein may be Boeing’s best-known used-airplane salesman. “That’s the amazing thing about our brand. People call and say, ‘I want to deal with you, Boeing.’ They know us as the company that solves aviation problems,” said Duckstein, who has spent 13 years with Boeing Capital Corp., the company’s aircraft leasing arm. Duckstein is part of a cadre of employees who trade in the global used-airplane market. These marketing and technical specialists wheel and deal in the airplanes comprising Boeing Capital’s portfolio of leasing aircraft and planes taken as trades-ins by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Trading in used airplanes can make all the difference in Boeing keeping the customer from going with the “other guy,” according to Duckstein, who answers the trading phone and emails and generates the company’s online used-airplane listings that appear on Boeing.com. “It takes a big Rolodex to be good in this business,” Duckstein explained. He and colleagues yearly handle numerous transitions of Boeing-leased jetliners from one operator to another or, depending on aircraft age or market factors, sales to new owners or airplane recyclers. In 2013, for example, Boeing Capital accelerated transferring four remaining 717-200s to new European low-cost carrier Volotea and began delivering additional leased 717s to Australia’s QantasLink, which will get five by mid-2014. Boeing’s largest block of leased 717s also began moving from Southwest Airlines, which inherited them in its AirTran acquisition, to rival Delta under a sublease that allowed Southwest to keep an all-737 fleet. “Solving Southwest’s problem and not having Delta go to another manufacturer provides both airlines with long-term Boeing solutions,” said Mike Cave, Boeing Capital president. “We enabled an outcome that was win-win for both carriers and Boeing.” Boeing Capital also placed two 16 BOEING FRONTIERS / DECEMBER 2013–JANUARY 2014
Frontiers December 2013—January 2014 Issue
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