this is criminal if true. Who is the largest buyer of airliners in the world? AA? BA? Cathay? Nope, its ILFC. Who they?
ILFC lease aircraft out to airlines around the globe so they don't have to buy them themselves. Now there's a crazy idea.
OK, for special mods like DIRCM I can understand why we need our own (and do we need DIRCM for the trips they do? really?), but is it only a matter of time before one of these knackered old birds with the best efforts of the engineers (and they have my total sympathy and admiration) fatigues out of the sky with a battalion of chaps returning from places sandy? I hope and pray it never happens, but until it does, then the criminals who allow this situation to continue will continue to get away with it. It's a f**cking disgrace.