NAFA member Mike Smith, President of Scope Aircraft Finance, shares his latest article in The Plane Truth.
On my way home from EAA Oshkosh last week, I was thinking about how quickly the year is moving. I usually look at that summer event as the kick-off to the second half of the year…as hard as that is to believe.
As we reach the latter stages of summer, I’m reminded of something I’ve discussed previously…this concept of certainty. Over my 15 years of working in aircraft lending, I’ve been reminded that business owners (and, as a result, aircraft buyers) ultimately like to make decisions when they feel like they have clarity of what’s going to happen, which creates an environment of certainty.
Two recent examples prove this point. Back in 2020, the Covid pandemic caused a great pause in aircraft purchasing, for good reason. Once we had an idea of the virus’s actual impacts, purchasing continued. Last year, the back-and-forth on tariffs created tremendous uncertainty and led to another pause in purchasing. Once we had a clearer idea of the tariff impacts, purchasing resumed.
This article was originally published on July 30, 2026 in Issue 22 of The Plane Truth.