Some 550 airline, aviation finance and leasing personnel filled the Mansion House to capacity for the 3rd annual awards presentations hosted by Airline Economics with entertainment from the UK’s top comedian Michael McIntyre & Ronnie Scott’s Resident and multi-platinum selling recording artist Mica Paris.
The 2013 awards night took place on the middle night of the Airline Economics Growth Frontiers 2013 conference in January 2013, which was open to all delegates. In addition many companies took the chance to invite clients to their tables at historic Dublin venue for the evening.
After a brief intro from sponsors David Power of Orix Aviation and Tom Woods of KPMG guests set about the important business of tucking into the four course steak dinner before enjoying comedy from Michael McIntyre followed by the main awards presentation.
2013 award winners and the top 100 Aviation 100
Airline of the Year – Emirates Airline
For the second year running Emirates Airline was voted as the best airline by its peers in the aviation community. The world’s fastest growing airline expanded its network significantly in the past year with new routes, increased frequencies and a new partnership with Qantas.
The airline treasury team also has a long-standing reputation for innovation in its aircraft financing arrangement, which with 90-plus aircraft on order, is an essential skill.
Brian Jeffery , SVP – Corporate Treasury at Emirates Airline, accepted the award on behalf of Emirates.
The top ten airlines
AIRLINE OF THE YEAR 2013
1 EMIRATES 18.2%
2 ETIHAD 16.8%
3 TURKISH AIRLINES 11.6%
4 KOREAN AIRLINES 10.4%
5 US AIRWAYS 8.0%
6 SPIRIT AIRLINES 7.1%
7 AIRASIA 6.6%
8 DELTA 4.0%
9 RYANAIR 4.0%
10 ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES 1.2%
% of total accepted vote: 83.8%
Aircraft of the Year – 737-800
The 737-800 has long been considered the gold standard aircraft and it remains so today. It is the backbone of global aviation and will be for some time. For the second time the Boeing 737-800 has been awarded Aircraft of the Year with a majority vote from all corners of the globe.
Kostya Zolotusky, managing director of Boeing Capital, collected the award on behalf of Boeing.
AIRCRAFT OF THE YEAR 2013
1 737-800
2 777-300ER
3 A320-200
4 A380
5 A330-200
6 737-600
7 A330-300
8 A319-100
9 737-900ER
10 Q400 / dash 8
Lessor of the Year – International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC)
ILFC has had a wonderful period under current management. It has reorganised and deleted debt, increased its customer base, drastically improved the future cost of financing and in the process have secured a strong future for the business. ILFC also executed their first ever EX-IM backed deal in 2012 and all in all got the company in shape to ensure a swift and highly-advantageous sale in 2012. ILFC also secured the first ever A320neo lease agreement, with Spirit Airlines. All the while ILFC’s Aeroturbine unit has been growing rapidly. This year the win for ILFC was by a significant margin, it is a very well deserved win for the team.
ILFC CEO Henri Courpron accepted the Aviation 100 Lessor of the Year Award from KPMG’s Tom Woods.
LESSOR OF THE YEAR
RANK Lessor % of vote
1 ILFC 28.80%
2 GECAS 19.60%
3 AerCap 14.00%
4 Aviation Capital Group 6.90%
5 BOC Aviation 6.90%
6 SMBC 6.40%
7 AWAS 3.80%
8 ELFC 3.40%
9 Orix Aviation 2.80%
10 CIT 2.60%
% of total accepted vote: 95.2%
Appraiser of the Year – Ascend
This is an area of the market that always produces a strong vote. Everyone has an opinion it seems when it comes to the business of appraisal. In 2012 there was a strong showing from IBA and Morten Byer and Agnew in this survey but Ascend won the vote with a clear majority with clearly many very pleased customers.
APPRAISER OF THE YEAR
Rank Ascend Worldwide 27%
1 IBA 18%
2 Morten Beyer & Agnew 14%
3 ICF SH&E 13%
4 Avitas 11%
5 ACI Aviation Consulting 6%
MRO of the Year – Monarch Aircraft Engineering Ltd
The footprint of aftermarket specialists on aviation finance and leasing is increasing by the year. This award has involved an eleven-month survey in addition to the four month aviation 100 awards vote. Determined to assess the best performer, Airline Economics spoke directly to customers to ask them to rate MRO services across the globe on satisfaction. The larger companies were scaled against the smaller ones by applying percentage ratios. Only one single MRO company scored a clean sheet rating of excellent from all of its customers surveyed over the past eleven months across the globe, that company was Monarch Aircraft Engineering Limited.
MRO OF THE YEAR
Rank Maintenance Provider Airline Economics Customer Satisfaction survey results % of vote Av100 vote Final score
1 Monarch Aircraft Engineering Ltd 100% 2.6% 102.6
2 ST Aerospace 87.20% 14.8% 102
3 Lufthansa Technik (inc all subsids) 86.40% 15.1% 101.5
4 Delta Tech Ops 91.90% 9.1% 101
5 SIA Engineering Company 93.00% 7.8% 100.8
6 AFI-KLM E&M 91.50% 8.1% 99.6
7 MTU Maintenance (all subs) 96.00% 2.1% 98.1
8 Maintenance Iberia / BA Maintenance 92.10% 6.0% 98.1
9 Mabadala (SRT/ADAT) 94.40% 2.8% 97.2
10 HAECO/STARCO (Plus all affiliates) 91.80% 5.0% 96.8
% of total accepted vote: 73.4%
Parts suppliers of the Year – AJ Walter Aviation
This is an area of the market where investment opportunities are rife. AJ Walter Aviation has powered to the fore of the aftermarket over recent years expanding into MRO in 2012 with the acquisition of what was AVEOS. AJ Walter operates out of London, Dubai, Singapore and Miami with aircraft spares stock in all locations as well as in Central Europe and on the US west coast. In the Aviation survey AJ Walter proved to be the clear industry favourite in a market that is expanding rapidly with strong investor returns.
INDEPENDENT PARTS SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR
1 AJ Walter Aviation 37%
2 Kellstrom 24%
3 Aventure 13%
4 INAV Group 13%
5 AAR 7%
6 Aviall 6%
Law Firm of the Year – Clifford Chance
Clifford Chance has worked on many of the most high profile M&A transactions that closed in 2012, including advising The Royal Bank of Scotland on the sale of RBS Aviation Capital to the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and advising BBAM on the purchase of GAAM Aircraft Management. They also continue to be at the forefront of innovative financing transactions including the first EX-Im guaranteed bond for a PRC carrier, the first ECA financing involving registration of aircraft in Russia and the financing of AerCap's innovative sale and leaseback transaction with American Airlines. The Firm also continues to work closely with its operating lessor clients on significant portfolio sales including the sale of more than 30 aircraft by GECAS to CDB Leasing and the sale of a portfolio of aircraft by SMBC Leasing to ICBC.
LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR 2013
1 Clifford Chance 16.9%
2 Norton Rose 15.4%
3 Hogan Lovells 12.1%
4 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer 7.1%
5 Watson Farley Williams 7.0%
6 Holman Fenwick Willan 6.8%
7 Bird & Bird 6.4%
8 Clyde & Co 4.9%
9 Simmons & Simmons 2.1%
10 Stevenson Harwood 1.8%
Bank of the Year – Goldman Sachs
In 2012, Goldman Sachs was involved in some of the most innovative aviation finance transactions that have been seen for many years. To name a few: the Aircastle block trade into both the public markets and to the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund; the $7.3bn sale of RBS Aviation to SMBC; GECC secured notes backed by a portfolio of 137 aircraft; and of course the Doric Alpha EETC. This firm was involved in $15.5bn of a total of $24.6bn transactions in the debt capital markets in 2012, which is 63% of the market.
CFO of the Year – Elias Habayeb, SVP & Chief Financial Officer, International Lease Finance Corporation
With the excellent year ILFC has had this year is testament to the lessor’s experienced and hard-working treasury team. Elias Habayeb and his team have succeeded in reducing ILFC’s debt considerably and have succeeded in steering the company through a tremendously difficult economic period through to a successful sale announced a few months ago.
CFO / TREASURER OF THE YEAR
Rank CFO/Treasurer Company % of vote
1 Elias Habayeb ILFC 17.10%
2 Brian Jeffrey Emirates 15.80%
3 Jorge Otero IAG 12.00%
4 Derek Kerr US Airways 8.80%
5 Howard Millar Ryanair 6.20%
6 Keith Helming AerCap 6.20%
7 Spencer Schwartz Atlas Air 6.10%
8 Bradley Forsyth Willis Lease 5.90%
9 Paul A. Jacobson Delta Air Lines 3.10%
10 Madhu Vijay Aviation Capital Group 2.60%
% of total accepted vote: 83.8%
Industry Leader of the Year - Temel Kotil, CEO of Turkish Airlines
As he was unable to accept his award in person, Airline Economics flew to Istanbul to present the Industry Leader of the Year award to Temel Kotil, CEO of Turkish Airlines in person.
TOP TEN INDUSTRY LEADERS 2013
Rank Industry leader Company % of vote
1 Dr Temel Kotil Turkish Airlines 17.10%
2 James Hogan Etihad 15.80%
3 Doug Parker US Airlines 12.00%
4 Henri Courpron ILFC 8.80%
5 Alan Joyce Qantas 6.20%
6 Carolyn McCall Easyjet 6.20%
7 Tim Clark Emirates 6.10%
8 Tony Fernandez AirAsia 5.90%
9 willie Walsh IAG 3.10%
10 Greg Lee Goldman Sachs 2.6%
Face of Aviation – Stephen Hannahs
The Face of Aviation award is given to one person every year that has made the most significant contribution to the aviation industry. This year, the recipient of this award is recognised by this magazine and his peers for his long and successful career in this industry.
In a career spanning some 35 years, this year’s face of aviation is one of the few individuals in this industry who is part of that elite club of professionals who can claim to have taken a key role in the birth of the aircraft leasing business. He started his career at Itel Corporaiton after a stint in the US Air Force before founding Tanon & Company, later sold to Integrated Resources. But arguably his greatest achievement was founding Aviation Capital Group in 1989.
ACG grew steadily throughout the 1990s and by the early 2000s the lessor had a 100-strong fleet . Thanks to consistent and stronger support from Pacific Life Corporation, ACG was able to substantially increase its fleet and global presence.
In recognition of his achievements and following his mandatory retirement from ACG in December last year, Airline Economics awards the face of Aviation 2013 to Mr Stephen Hannahs.
For the 2013 Deals of the Year awards, see the digital issue of Airline Economics Issue 12 at www.aviationnews-online.com