Dollar strength signals shift in bizjet sales

As the U.S. dollar strengthens, business jet sales will shift slowly back to North America since aircraft are priced in dollars, according to aviation market advisor Brian Foley (in photo) of Brian Foley Associates. "This year the non-North American sales component helped arrest a further slide and has been the starting fluid for the downtrodden general aviation industry," he said. "The [weak] dollar...effectively rewarded buyers with double-digit discounts when purchasing with their strong local currencies." Foley also said that offshore buyers have been "quietly helping" to reduce the bloated inventory of pre-owned aircraft, particularly late models that compete directly with new sales from manufacturers. He believes the U.S. market will eventually help lead the new aircraft sales revival since the most desirable used aircraft will have already been picked over by overseas buyers.