Purchase Leased Aircraft

[POTKC]

It would be nice to be able to purchase aircraft that you are leasing like you could in CA. Perhaps right above the 'cancel lease' button you could have another button that says 'purchase aircraft' and next to it the cost of doing so? The cost of the purchase could be calculated as 

aircraft value x 0.[some number] – total amount already paid for the lease

Where the 'some number' could depend on how long the lease contract was originally for, or how much of the lease is remaining. Maybe even the number of hours/cycles the aircraft has had since the lease began. Of course I don't even know if that information (especially about cycles since lease began) is even stored anywhere. What do you guys think?

[Unknown98]

I'm not against the idea. Just don't want it to become too easy to grow your fleet that way. i.e., I don't want a lease buyout to double as a makeshift financing option.

I think how it works with cars is if you want to buyout your lease, you have to pay whatever the residual value of the vehicle is at the end of your lease term. That's on top of whatever you already paid for the lease. But cars and planes are different obviously so I don't know if the same applies or not.

[POTKC]

Yeah, that is exactly what I meant. You pay the value minus what was already paid through the lease. The tiny multiplier would literally be residual value x 0.97 or something, cause the value of the aicraft when you started using it is higher than after a few hundred or a few thousand hours.

Actually... maybe it should be the other way around. Pay a bit more than the remaining value of the aircraft. That seems more logical, disregard what I wrote above.

[tjtilcox]

I agree. I would like the option to purchase the leased aircraft that I have. I believe that option can be available after the lease is 80% mature and then you buy the aircraft at the current value + a percentage of the remaining lease. I think that option would preserve the lease almost to maturity and the carrier has the option to buy or finish the lease on regular terms and replace with another option of aircraft after maturity.

Premier Airways

[tomer]

I agree the option to purchase your leased aircraft (regardless of cost) would be a great game feature.

[boerviking]

I agree that airlines should elect the right to purchase aircraft on lease. And, Yes - most real lease contracts do allow airlines to acquire airplanes on contract. My airline recently 'bought-out' a couple of planes from a 'frivolous' leasing agreement

[Astro]

This needs to be an option. I didn't notice what the current costs are based out of, but with the cost to lease (and insure in the future), it of course is already operationally more expensive. The goal should be to buy out aircraft then, and having to plan on delivery delays (if that is added) will make ordering and replacing the fleet a headache.

[Zortan]

I don't think it should be 0.somenumber. That would make it very easy for player to cheat - as they could then lease an aircraft from the used market, and then buy it from the lessor for less than it's worth. That is not very fair at all. It should, instead, be the cancellation fee plus the value of the aircraft - as the leasing company is losing the opportunity to lease it to you for the rest of the term, and they're losing the opportunity to lease it to other airlines after you.

[Astro]

Yeah Idk where the value x (diminished value factor) came from. All leases are based off the value at the time of the lease and should still be the same in this case as well. So the total cost of the buyout would be (initial value - principle of lease) + interest + cancellation fee.

Ex. Lease a $100 mil plane at $100k/month and .05% interest for 8 months with a cancellation fee of $250k, and at that time buyout the aircraft:
($100M - 800k) + (.05 * 100k * 8) + $250k

Value at time of buyout is $99.2M, plus the interest already paid out: $40k, plus the cancellation fee makes a purchase price of $99.49M including the $800k already paid toward the principle. Total payout is $100.29M and the lease costs $290k more than buying the plane outright initially. Of course, these numbers are just examples and can be changed as admins see fit. Also, if the lease term comes up, then you should have the option to buyout then without cancellation fees, thus giving players the foresight to choose the leasing option best for them. Plenty of cash? Take the higher cost 3 month and pay it off earlier. Struggling a bit? Take the 1 year and pay less overall, but have to wait longer for the fees.