Are you sitting comfortably?

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Are you sitting comfortably in your (home) office chair? Enough lumbar support for you? It could be as well to check now because you may be spending a good deal of time in that chair during the fourth quarter.

Once the US election is won or lost (depending on your point of view) even more business jet transactions than normal are likely to be compressed into the few short weeks between early November and the end of the year. Speakers at this week’s CJI Town Hall online meeting, ‘Getting Ready for the Fall’, all expected the pace of business to pick up after the election.

Amanda Applegate, partner with Los Angeles-based Aerlex Law Group, predicted a brief post-election pause, whichever side won. But then the phones would ring and ring. And that meant a full to-do list now to help spread the workload later.

“There’s a lot of work we can get done now in September and October, so hopefully I will not be in my chair 24 hours a day between mid-November and December 31st,” Applegate told 300+ delegates. Topping her in-tray are projects such as completing title searches in advance and completing evaluations.

Lee Rohde, President and founder of Essex Aviation, and Brian Proctor, President and CEO of MENTE Group, also expected hectic activity towards the end of the year building on a busy third quarter. It’s not a prospect that is lost on many clients.

Some were trying to complete aircraft maintenance programmes now instead of their due date early next year, according to Rohde. But finding facilities to take on major work, such as a C-Check, was already becoming challenging and pre-buy inspection facilities could also become tough to find. “The availability of pre-buy inspection space at facilities is one of the biggest factors that’s going to come into play very quickly,” said Rohde.

Proctor also reported sales bottlenecks caused by MRO facilities, which “took drastic action in the Spring on headcount and payroll and haven’t brought all that talent back yet”. There’s no shortage of demand for pre-sales inspections. During the past 90 days, the level of business activity had returned to pre-Covid levels – and would get even busier, predicted Proctor. “Clearly, half the transactions we are doing now are tax-induced and that’s driven by people trying to lock into current tax law versus the unknowns that could happen in 2021,” he said. “It’s going to be extremely busy between now and the end of the year.”

So, best check that office chair lumbar support now. There may not be time after the US election.

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