Aviation industry races for cash with record bond sales

The aviation industry is selling debt at a record pace, reflecting investors’ continuing willingness to buy debt from companies hard-hit by the pandemic -- at the right price. Airplane companies sold a combined $32b of debt in a series of blockbuster deals last week. Boeing raised $25b of bonds Thursday, the largest ever bond deal outside of an acquisition and a record for the aviation industry. One day before, Delta sold $3.5b of bonds, the largest sale ever by an airline, along with a $1.5b loan, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. As the pandemic’s fallout rattled markets in recent weeks, investors avoided debt from companies they thought were going to struggle as Americans stayed at home and spent less. Investors’ enthusiasm for debt from airlines and aircraft manufacturers bodes well for other companies affected by the coronavirus looking to raise cash, said Kevin Foley, head of debt capital markets at JPMorgan. “The investor base is not fixated on the status quo, it’s focused on where these companies will be when the virus is managed,” said Foley, whose team helped lead the debt sales on behalf of Boeing and Delta.<br/>