The International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA) has launched IADA U, its new education program intended to keep its member brokers and transaction experts up to date with the latest market developments.

Describing the program December 3 during NBAA-VBACE, Joseph Carfagna Jr., IADA chairman and president of Leading Edge Aviation Solutions said the program fulfills the continuing education currency requirement under the association’s broker certification standard but is also applicable to those who are not yet certified. “Many of us, who have been doing this for years would be foolish to say we know it all,” said Carfagna. “This is going to be a very valuable tool for people relatively new to the industry and for people who have been here for 20 or 30 years.”

The self-directed learning platform features videos, support material, quizzes and tests, and its content, presented by IADA members who are experts in their fields, covers a wide range of topics including regulatory standards, aircraft purchase agreements, business use of GA aircraft, sales and use tax, tax depreciation and expensing, import and export processes, and digital signing technologies, along with IADA policies and procedures. The system will chart course progress.

Association dealer members will each receive two training slots for IADA U annually. One silver lining to the Covid pandemic, according to Carfagna, is that the proliferation of virtual training platforms enabled the accelerated development of the program.

In other news at IADA, AircraftExchange—the association’s online marketplace—handled 500 aircraft transactions to-date worth $4.5 billion and is on track to finish the year with another 50 transactions, in what the organization describes as the most volatile sales environment in the aviation industry’s history due to the ongoing pandemic.

To gauge the effects of Covid-19—which became firmly entrenched in the U.S. in April—on the aircraft sales market, IADA surveyed its members on a monthly basis in several categories of transaction outcomes and learned that in the second quarter of the year, there were 219 aircraft under contract and 174 closed sales. By the third quarter, those numbers grew to 320 under contract and 283 consummated transactions. While the November numbers were not yet available at press time, October alone showed 90 aircraft under contract and 129 closed deals, illustrating the rising tempo of sales.

Over the past year, the organization has increased its ranks by 13 accredited dealers for a total of 46, which encompasses more than 100 individual aircraft brokers. According to IADA, it now represents the top 7 percent of the world’s aircraft transaction experts. Six aircraft OEMs are also among its 115 members, including the latest—Honda Aircraft.

In abiding with the association’s continued commitment to maintaining ethics, integrity, safety standards, and transparency, IADA has also introduced a formal internal inquiry and disciplinary process to investigate any ethical and business practice complaints against its members.