DAE Capital manages 602 aircraft worth $16.38B; Macquarie AirFinance manages 246 worth $7.54B. But put the portfolios type-by-type on one chart and the more interesting difference isn't size — it's what each has ordered next.
Aircraft lessors own roughly half the world's commercial fleet, yet their portfolios are usually reported as two numbers: aircraft count and book value. That hides everything an investor or an airline treasurer actually wants to know — which types, how old a technology, and how much growth is already committed. This chart compares two portfolios at the type level, morphing between them so the structural differences move.
DAE's 602-aircraft portfolio has an unusual signature: 200 ATR turboprops — a full regional-aircraft franchise inside a mainline lessor, flanked by 99 A320s, 87 B737s and 65 B737 MAXs, and topped with a widebody book that runs from A330s to 777 freighters. It's a diversified estate: narrowbody core, turboprop annuity, cargo optionality.
Macquarie AirFinance's 246 aircraft are almost purely narrowbody: A320 (84), B737 (67), A320neo (53), with only a handful of widebodies. No turboprops, no freighters — a focused single-aisle book concentrated exactly where liquidity and remarketing are easiest.
The sharpest contrast is committed growth. DAE has 48 B737 MAXs on order against 602 current aircraft — an 8% top-up. Macquarie has 96 on order against 246 — 39% growth already committed, split across 67 MAXs, 20 A220s and 9 A320neos. One portfolio is maintaining altitude; the other is climbing hard, and buying its way into a new type (the A220) while it does. Fleet plans, not press releases, are where lessor strategy is legible — the same way an airline's order book tells you its next decade.
Comparing two compositions is where grouped bars go to die — twenty types × two owners × two statuses is sixty bars of noise. The morph solves it: one layout per owner, animated between, so your eye tracks what changes — the ATR block collapsing, the A220 appearing, the order-book bars stretching. Current and on-order are visually distinct so committed growth never masquerades as today's fleet, and every type is labelled in full with exact counts on hover.
One row per category, with a value column for each of the two things you're comparing.
| aircraft_type | DAE | Macquarie |
|---|---|---|
| A320neo family | 602 | 246 |
| 737 MAX | 48 | 96 |
Novice tip: use the same category labels down the left for both sides — the agent mirrors them, then morphs the two into one combined portfolio. Don't pre-sort or pre-sum; it handles the ranking and the totals.
Size is the least interesting difference between these two portfolios. DAE is breadth — six aircraft families, a turboprop franchise, cargo — at maintenance-level growth. Macquarie is focus — nearly all narrowbody — with two-fifths of its current fleet size already on order. Neither is "better"; they're different bets on the same decade. The chart's job is to make the bets visible.
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