Mesinger Pulse – “A Year End Message”
It is worth taking a few minutes to reflect and remember the year. For many of us the year has been more and more challenging. It seems deals take longer to get over the finish line. Even just getting into a maintenance facility to start a pre-buy takes weeks rather than days. We all know time kills deals. As I have written before transparency in our industry seems to be turning opaque. Making strategic plans that can be counted on are more and more elusive. I have to say for us the year end is bringing good numbers we can be proud of. It also means we have work to do going forward and we never put up the “Gone Fishin’” sign.
We are hopeful that 2018 will bring the same if not better outcomes. At Mesinger Jet Sales we will continue to do all the right things with respect to honoring our fellow professionals as well as our clients. This dedication has served us for over 43 years. I am watching, as I mentioned in my last month’s newsletter, that the industry as a whole is beginning to look closely at itself and its practices. People want to identify the weaknesses and strengthen the defenses against those who are not interested in best practices. We must circle our wagons and protect our industry from those who are not as desirous as the vast majority of us are about sustainability and doing things right!
If any of you are wondering about lower inventory numbers here is an interesting statistic. Feeling like fewer people may be entering the market as sellers we went to our multiple listing provider, AMSTAT, to get some validation for this feeling. They say that over the last 6 months year-over-year there are approximately between 150 and 200 fewer new listings. As we all sit back to figure out the root cause, several reasons come to mind. On a very positive note I think some people who had considered selling have now decided that in fact the value of owning and operating a business aircraft makes sense for them again. Their individual businesses and needs are getting stronger.
On a less positive, but perhaps a more realistic reasoning, there are a group of sellers who were just plain opportunistic. They were either on the market or had hoped to come to market but are now realizing the value of their plane is not rebounding or where they had hoped it would be. Lastly, sellers may just not think that there are enough real buyers to absorb another entry for sale. The combination leaves us where we find ourselves.
The reality of fewer aircraft for sale just makes for an even more frantic frenzy among those who portray themselves as aircraft professionals. We have never needed to support the cause of working together and doing it right more than ever. The good news is we do have a real and important industry segment that will not go away. I might also say that the acquisition side of our business has not been as strong as it is now in many years. Even going to the manufacturers to buy new is picking up.
I wish each of you a bright holiday of wonderful health and family togetherness. I hope I get to do business with many of you next year for the first time and again with all of you that we have known for years. Please call or write. I enjoy the communication.
NOW ABOUT DOGS
As many of you know by now our family is passionate about our dogs. You have seen Louie and Miles in our ads and hopefully have seen the charitable work we do for the breeds. I am so excited to share a new milestone. I was just asked to join the board of Morris Animal Foundation. I have added a link to their website and the story about my joining. Of course, you can always just go to the bottom of all the pages on our website and push the Golden Button. I look forward to your shared stories about your furry friends.