ISTAT Jetrader - Spring 2021 - 22

an office in IBA, we only have about
20% of the workforce in the office at
any one time, and many of them have
asked for that to be a permanent shift
because it improves their standard of
living and they can work from home
very effectively. When it comes to client
business and conferences, you can't
replace a conference purely virtually.
You can't go for a client dinner, you
can't go around and golf, and you can't
have a quick beer with a client in the
pub. We have virtual cocktail hours with
some of my friends, which has worked
out, but I'd much rather go down the
pub. So, there are some things that
won't change, but I would say that
the market is going to go through that
reset, whereby there will be airlines
that will get through and readapt with
a slightly smaller fleet size and grow
back up again. With everything that
happens, there's always an opportunity
that happens as well. We have become
more obsessed with e-commerce and
Amazon and, naturally, that's lent itself
very well to it. I used to hate Zoom
before this pandemic, and now I've
got almost more comfortable with that
than I have with an actual phone call
because it means I can actually see the
person. I will always much prefer to see
the person face to face.

Oliver Stuart-Menteth
Managing Director of Fintech
Aviation Services SARL
ISTAT Certified Senior Appraiser
*Aired on 18 November 2020

On the health of aviation-related
companies in 2021:
I believe, personally, we have not seen
the peak of bankruptcies. I think we'll
22

* T H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F I S TAT

see additional bankruptcies heading
into Q1/Q2 of 2021. Airlines will
continue to downsize over the winter
period; they will continue to have
discussions with leasing companies,
with lessors, with financiers about

flights at that point heading from Asia
to London, so I actually spent three
days in Singapore sitting in a hotel
by myself. It was called The Lady Hill
Hotel. Three days later, I found myself
then sitting on a Qantas flight, and we

I used to hate Zoom before this pandemic, and now
I've got almost more comfortable with that than I have
with an actual phone call because it means I can actually
see the person.
rescheduling loans, and it's going to be
an extremely tough time, not only for
the airlines, but also for the ancillary
industries that are wholly involved in
the transport market. For example,
all of the parts suppliers are currently
sitting on stock that they bought over
the past few years, which, on paper,
have a far higher value than what
a purchaser is willing to pay at the
moment. So, those companies have a
real problem on their hands, and I think
the survivability of any company comes
down to the relationship it has with
its financiers and how flexible people
can be in terms of out repayment of
existing debt.
On his most memorable flight:
I've been flying since I was probably
about two weeks old, but my most
memorable flight was when I asked my
parents when I was in Hong Kong if I
could go and visit my grandmother back
in the U.K. I think I was about 9 years
old. In rather rapid fashion, I found
myself sitting on a BA 747 heading from
Hong Kong to London with probably
about 57 stops in between. As soon as
we departed out of Hong Kong, a couple
of hours into the cruise, we lost an
engine, which was pretty typical I think
on the old JT-7s or JT-9s. We diverted
into Singapore, and there were not daily

managed to make it to London, and as
I was waiting for my bags at Heathrow,
a ground crew lady came up to me
and said, " Can I have your passport,
Sonny? " , so I handed it over, and
that was the last time I ever saw my
passport. So, of course, my bags never
arrived, and what I failed to mention
was that my grandmother had been
waiting at Heathrow for about five days
now sleeping on the floor. I've never let
my parents forget that one.
On his advice to younger people
interested in becoming an appraiser:
If you want to get involved and make
the best of your time in the air transport
industry, then when you leave college,
try to work in as many different sectors
as you can, learn as much as you
possibly can and read as much as
you possibly can while you're there.
Because if your ultimate game is to
become an appraiser, clients live and
breathe effectively by the knowledge
imparted by an appraiser, and the
more knowledge and understanding,
particularly against their specific set of
circumstances that you can impart, the
better that will be for the clients and
the industry in general. It is extremely
important to not jump straight from
university into your first appraisal
position. I would take 10 years out at
ISTAT Jetrader - Spring 2021

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