Mark Hannant
He may be one of the oldest swingers in town but veteran pilot and aviation magnate George Batchelor has lost none of the drive that has underpinned his 62-year love affair with the flying business.
Having first flown at the age of 16 while a student in Compton, California, Batchelor went on to build a successful leasing company, International Air Leases (IAL) which operated out of Miami until February 1999. At its height IAL had 120 aircraft, which it either operated or leased.
Much of the business was built in the post-war years when there were a surplus of both aircraft and pilots. Batchelor bought DC-3s and -4s, C-54s and -47s and, sensing a vacuum which the major airlines were failing to fill, began leasing them.
But over the years there wasn't much about the airline business which hasn't attracted his attention. "I've bought, sold, leased, traded and operated aircraft. I've seen the cyclical nature of the business and the fundamental changes which have taken place in the past six decades. I can't get it out of my system."
He did try, by selling his empire earlier this year, to make more time for the other things in life. But it couldn't last.
He's been here in Paris to "negotiate a couple of deals on buying two 767-200s and a couple of 757-200ERs." These he will add to the fleet of 20 aircraft he's put together in the last few months under the banner of Aerospace Finance.
Leased
Aerospace Finance has 17 DC-8 freighters leased to Cargo carriers Airborne, Burlington and ATI and other aircraft leased to Continental and TWA.
But the master of business development says he's doing things differently this time round. "In the past I had a reputation for handling older planes. That's changed now. I won't look at anything older than 15 years old and I don't want to have any more than 10 people working for the company. With International Air Leases we had over 2,000. I want to keep things small and simple - both for my sake and the customers."
Source: Flight Daily News
