Many, if not most internationally operated companies, create offshore leasing companies to minimise tax exposure. Good way to upstream money without paying hefty taxes in the unfriendly taxed country of the parent corporation.
I'm surprised Atlas took so long with creating Titan. Maybe someone was lining their own pockets with the existing onshore leasing companies that held the leases of A/C to Atlas/Polar. I remember three past ones. Atlas Leasing I, II, and III. Don't remember how those fell out after the bankruptcy.
I've done the offshore leasing company myself. It's legal and helps shelter your onshore company from more hefty taxes.
I would only get concerned about Titan if it gained an airline certificate to operate the A/C. GSS has proven to be more of a problem if they choose to do so than Titan would be now. Exampled by how AAWW was going to move struck Polar A/C to GSS and then take the GSS A/C and give them to Atlas to operate during the Polar strike. They thought that was going to work to the point of them initiating compliance checks on the A/C envolved. That was up until the Atlas crews initiated their illegal sympathy strike for Polar (the one that ended up with a couple of Fed court orders saying to return to work).
Of course, I remember the past conspiracy theories with Focus and Tradwinds also.
Last edited by nitty-gritty; 22nd Feb 2009 at 17:56.