Northwest Airlines said it is selling nine of its 65 A319s…

…At least some of the aircraft being sold had not been in use for some time, sitting idle and unpainted in the airline’s Minneapolis hangar.

I must confess that I do not know the in’s and out’s of the benefits of selling an aircraft or leasing it, but surley it would be better to lease them out to other airlines in order make some continual revenue from them throughout their operating period, rather than selling them off and getting just one lump sum for them. If they then agreed a purchase price from the airline after the lease period is over, then that would be better as it generates more money…or am I barking up the wrong tree?:confused::o