Aircraft OEMs Continue to Offer New Incentives

Recent incentives from aircraft manufacturers have sweetened the IRS's tax depreciation lure for customers to buy an airplane before year end. Liberty Aircraft is the latest to join the year-end sales blast, offering a year's free fuel and maintenance (up to 125 hours); free insurance; and five hours' training for those who take delivery of a two-place Liberty by December 31. Liberty will also refund deposits paid on competitors' aircraft, up to $5,000. With less defined incentives, Mooney Airplane Company announced Mooney Mania days leading up to the year end, during which it promises "attractive deals" on aircraft in its current inventory. The Mooney factory in Kerrville, Texas, is currently in semi-shutdown mode-with the understanding that production will resume only when orders for new aircraft exceed the current inventory.