Aircraft Market Assessment — The B757-200/-200ER

Market Presence. The success of the B757 has been due in no small part to its operational versatility but age, capacity and absence of fleet commonality have taken their toll. The power to weight ratio is of particular relevance allowing operation from runways that can cause problems for alternative equipment. The addition of winglets has further improved operating economics. The experience of the B757 provides for a salutary lesson for other aircraft types. Strong demand leads to stronger values thus attracting a wider range of investors. However, as soon as ten years of production have passed such strength of value can quickly dissipate leaving investors with a higher than expected loan to value ratio. With a wide operator base and ready demand from a variety of large and small, scheduled and charter, operators, leasing of the type proved popular. Some of the major lessors continued to acquire new examples at a time when the dwindling backlog reflected a maturing of the market. Major lessors were able to extract substantive concessions from Boeing allowing rentals of newly delivered aircraft to remain extremely competitive. The situation was exacerbated by the growing demand for the family orientated and more advanced A321-200 as well as the B737-800 and B737-900ER.