Jet Vultures

摘要

Airlines going bakrupt. Boeing stock at half its pre-Sept. 11 level. Tailfins lined up in the Arizona desert. Pilots and flight attendants getting pink slips or wage cuts. The travails of the airplane sector are causing immense suffering. But one area is thriving, making windfalls overnight for a few lucky participants: airplane brokers. If you've got an Indiana Jones-type stomach for adventurous commerce―and several million dollars to back the escapade―buying airliners for resale or salvage offers a thrill. You buy a plane for next to nothing. Then you cannibalize it for parts, find a commuter line in Africa that wants it if financing can be magically arranged or sell it for cash to a shadowy Colombian businessman (the fewer questions asked, the better).