Today's market realities are such that all segments of the aerospace industry will be facing important decisions about financing their customers. Customer financing can be a significant drag on the credit strength of aerospace manufacturers, because it reduces their financial flexibility, saddles them with considerable obligations―and in the case of the airlines―exposes them to very weak credits. Moody's has been closely following this credit-sensitive issue and its various permutations for the last 12 years. Our most recent information on the extent to which manufacturers are financing their customers' aircraft purchases comes from a survey in mid-2002 of 22 major aerospace manufacturers around the world, involved in building civil aircraft, aircraft engines, or aircraft components.
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