Concerns remain over the health of the aircraft leasing sector, despite many economies coming out of recession and growing confidence in the global capital markets, according to a senior executive at aircraft manufacturer Boeing.

Randy Tinseth, vice-president of marketing at Boeing, said that even though Boeing and Airbus are working on a record number of aircraft orders and increasing production amid signs of a recovery in the global airline industry, there is still continued weakness in the leasing sector, private equity companies and hedge funds, causing concern that they may not be able to meet their financial obligations.

Tinseth stated that compared to a year ago, commercial banks and capital market conditions are improving for airline borrowers, but that Boeing retained a cautious view of the lending market, including the ability of government export credit agencies to back aircraft deals. The profitability outlook for the global airline industry is that losses are set to continue in 2010, although to a lesser degree than in 2009.

Boeing cited a new forecast released in early March from the International Air Transport Association, which stated that the global airline industry stands to lose more than $2.8 billion this year, compared with the $9.4 billion loss expected for 2009. Airlines in the Asia-Pacific and Latin America regions are expected to become profitable this year, given that those region’s economies are expected to lead a global economic recovery.

But the state of the aircraft leasing sector remains a concern, illustrated by the news that American International Group’s airplane leasing unit, AIG International Lease Finance (ILFC), is planning its first offering of unsecured bonds in almost two years in order to pay down existing debt. ILFC counts Boeing and Airbus as two of its biggest suppliers.

In a statement, ILFC said it intends to hold a benchmark offering (which are typically on offer for more than $500 million), following the $1.3 billion sale of term loans secured by company assets including aircraft and leases, which took place earlier this week.

ILFC’s last unsecured bond sale took place in May 2008 for $750 million, but the global economic turbulence of the past two years saw ILFC lose access to the capital markets after the credit ratings of its parent company AIG were downgraded in 2008. Since then, AIG has supported ILFC with loans backed by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.