http://www.chriskerns.com The business of aviation Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:57:08 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It looks like my intuition is turning out to to be right, in that Steven Udvar-Hazy is apparently leading an effort to buy ILFC back from AIG. I have very high confidence that Mr. Udvar-Hazy will make the deal happen.Share This http://www.chriskerns.com/2008/09/18/management-buyout-of-ilfc/ United Airlines just announced that they are increasing their fee on the second checked bag from $25 to $50 for, essentially, economy seats on North American domestic flights. Their 1st check bag fee remains $15. This is great timing for me, personally, because the subject of my business ... http://www.chriskerns.com/2008/09/15/will-baggage-fees-hold/ Breaking news is that AIG may be looking to sell ILFC to raise capital and restore investor confidence. With a fleet of around 1,000 aircraft, ILFC the world's second largest aircraft lessor, trailing only GECAS. What I'm wondering is who will come up with $14 Billion? If ... http://www.chriskerns.com/2008/09/14/buyer-for-ilfc/ As our banking and capital markets system encounters its next milestone, namely the apparent imminent collapse of Lehman Brothers, I found the quote below (from this article) to be particularly choice: One investment-banking analyst spoke with confidence about his job security. "In banking, we're pretty sure we're going to get bought - ... http://www.chriskerns.com/2008/09/14/things-not-to-say-when-you-are-about-to-lose-your-job/ It's nice to know that the TSA is focusing its efforts on the important aspects of its job. Somehow, I don't see a change in uniform getting them any more respect. I guess we should just be happy that Jack Boots aren't part of the new uniform. ... http://www.chriskerns.com/2008/09/14/tsa-priorities/ I was traveling in Asia last week and was surprised by what I was fortunate enough to see while waiting for my flight out of Nagoya, Japan. First, an A380 (registration number 9V-SKC), then the Dream Lifter. Not particularly newsworthy or anything, but, as an airplane geek, I ... http://www.chriskerns.com/2008/05/27/nagoya-surprise/ Shopping for tickets to Cologne for a trip this winter and found this interesting itinerary on cheaptickets.com: For those of you not familiar with Germany's geography, Cologne is less than 40km (about a 30 minute train ride) from Dusseldorf, so the notion of connecting through Heathrow to get there, while adding ... http://www.chriskerns.com/2008/05/08/dusseldorf-to-cologne-via-london/ JP Morgan cut both Genesis Lease (GLS) and Aircastle (AYR) from Overweight down to Neutral today. I haven't seen the reports but my understanding is that JP Morgan expects the current state of equity markets to hurt both lessors. 2008 should prove to be an interesting year for leasing companies ... http://www.chriskerns.com/2008/03/26/lessor-downgrades/ How many times have you heard the word "lucrative" associated with international and/or business class flying? Yeah, me too. That was obviously the thinking behind upstarts like EOS (whose lie flat beds in their all-premium class 48-seat 757 aircraft are shown at right), SilverJet, and others. I ... http://www.chriskerns.com/2008/03/09/the-problem-with-lucrative-business-plans/ As I predicted back in August, Jim Whitehurst has reemerged at the helm of a company. Starting January 1st, 2008, Mr. Whitehurst will begin his new role as President and CEO of Red Hat, an open-source software company. I've heard many people comment on the airline industry's difficulty ... http://www.chriskerns.com/2007/12/28/whitehurst-reemerges/