Mesinger Pulse: The Sign Says We Are Open For Business, But Are We?

Every week I join two or three web events. I now know what everyone’s home office, kitchen and living rooms look like. I know what everyone’s favorite casual or Tommy Bahama shirts look like. I know what we each look like with beards, mustaches and longer hair. I think we are all itching to get back to work.

The topics of the events are all pretty much the same. What is happening in our respective businesses and how do we feel about our current and near-term future? We are all reporting on increased call activity. Some are looking for the best “Off-Market” planes, whatever that means! Some are struggling to find the plane that will capture the imagination of a prospect through pricing. Others are trying to create the best set of facts to motivate a prospect off of the fence.

So, are we open for business or is our imagination playing tricks on us? I think we are involved in an amazing scientific experiment and are possibly only a handful of weeks away from knowing the real meaning of opening back up. The experiment is about us as a world grappling with the reality of social distancing, masks and the right mix of hygiene in conjunction with the need and desire to open up economies. As we see states and cities and restaurants and bars and bowling alleys open and create the right mix of clientele, we will know far more answers and be able to really shout, “We are open for business!”

Until this experiment has a few more weeks of results we can only dream and imagine what we will look like for the Summer and the Fall into Winter. If we can adjust responsibly, more and more normalcy may return. The idea of travel may begin to embrace the confidence of the public. I know that confidence will come back and all the increased calls we are starting to have will translate into offers and sales.

As I am sure you are all experiencing, COVID-19 is adding new challenges as well as new creative actions. Visiting aircraft being considered for purchase and moving the aircraft to locations away from their home base for pre-buys, all require new solutions to what are necessary actions for a sale. We will get these new protocols in place and they will be easier every time we try them.

So, no gloom here just the reality for us to be open for business and encourage our clients to get back out into the skies will depend on a semblance of normality returning. The normalcy will return if we all use the facts and follow the leads. We all have a responsibility of turning the open for business sign around in our windows. We all can claim to be a part of the successful opening. Please join in this effort to turn the sign around and get our transactions back up, keep the values of our aircraft as intact as we can, and get back to enjoying the success we have all had a taste of.

Soon we can shave, grab that coat and tie and turn the baseball caps forward. It will be great to meet my peers in person rather than on Zoom.