Jetrader - Summer 2015 - 12

Q&A

Raymond Sisson
Chief Executive Officer and President, AWAS

Jetrader caught up with Raymond Sisson, chief executive officer and
president, AWAS, to hear his take on the global leasing market and the
challenges and opportunities ahead. He also shared insight into the
customer service model at AWAS.
Jetrader: Discuss your business model
at AWAS.
Raymond Sisson: We consider ourselves
the world's best second owner of aircraft.
On average, we buy a great deal of aircraft
in the secondary market from purchase and
leasebacks with airlines as well as portfolio
acquisitions from other lessors. Our business model enables us to take an aircraft
from brand new to part-out, including cargo
conversion along the way if we so choose.
Our customers tend to be airlines, but
also to a certain extent, part-out shops or
lessors who focus on end-of-life aircraft.
We try to focus on airlines' and those lessors' business models and understanding
what solutions they need-delivering at
the right time and on spec.
With respect to airlines, we can lease
new aircraft, we've had a large new orderbook with Boeing and Airbus, but the bigger
challenges are in the midlife space. AWAS
excels and differentiates itself in acquiring and then leasing used aircraft where
specification, commonality and delivering
on time become much more important and
subject to more exigent issues rather than

a new aircraft delivery from a Boeing or
Airbus, which is hard work but nonetheless
more predictable.
JT: In this issue of Jetrader, we're discussing customer service and the passenger experience. Talk about your approach
to customer service at AWAS.
RS: We spend a great deal of time understanding our customers' unique business
models and goals. When we work with a
fellow lessor to acquire midlife aircraft
with leases attached, or we are re-leasing
more mature aircraft from our fleet ...
these transitions can be quite technically
complex, so we spend a great deal of time
to make these work as seamlessly and efficiently as possible.
Back to the airlines, our approach is
providing an innovative suite of solutions
like PDP [pre-delivery payment] financing,
PLBs [purchase and leaseback], acquiring
midlife sisterships from another airline to
trade some commonality.
Another approach is being able to help
airlines with whom we work move aircraft
in and out of their fleet. We routinely take

12 The official publication of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading

AWAS aircraft out of a customers' fleet. In
exchange for that, we do new PLB business
or lease them other aircraft to match up to
their requirements.
AWAS has been around for 30 years. We
have really good long-term relationships.
We leverage that to do the harder deals-
the deals that require a bit more flexibility
and innovation. That's our approach; you
can sum it up with flexibility, responsiveness, and speed of decision-making, which
is critical if you want to play meaningfully
in the high-yield midlife space.
JT: As customers (both airlines and their
passengers) demand higher levels of service, sustainable choices, the latest technology and an overall better experience,
all at low costs, how will the aviation
industry respond?
RS: We think the industry has responded
and will continue to respond to this quite
aggressively. Jet travel is cheaper than
ever before, on an inflation-adjusted basis,
and airlines have invested heavily in nextgeneration aircraft: more fuel-efficient
aircraft, lower carbon footprint and quieter

Jetrader - Summer 2015

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