ISTAT Jetrader - Spring 2022 - 21

RIGHT: The
Aftermarket Panel
featured, from left,
moderator Abdol
Moabery, Dan Watson,
Karl Drusch, Paul Greco
and Bill Polyi.
LEFT: Jep Thornton,
partner at Aerolease
Aviation LLC, giving an
ISTAT Foundation update.
director at Goldman Sachs; and
Jennifer Villa, executive director and
group head at Ashland Place Finance.
The discussion started with Fisher
asking Tilton what is different and what
is the same since the pandemic began.
Tilton responded: " If I had gone to sleep
at this conference in 2020 and then
found myself at this conference now, I
would think nothing has changed. Some
cool things have happened, like loyalty
program financing and other creative
financing solutions, but I do think if
we look at then and now, a lot is very
similar. Bank lending has been a bit
more limited. "
Beekman agreed, saying " The
RIGHT: The
Lessor Panel
featured, from
left, moderator
Dana Barta, Tom
Baker, Peter
Barrett, Michael
J. Inglese and
John Plueger.
Trading System (GATS); aircraft repositioning/cross-border transferability; and
export credit.
Da Silva delved into cross-border transferability, describing how AWG worked
with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to create new materials,
practices and a guide to facilitate cross-border transferability; guidance and
processes to facilitate aircraft return-to-service; and guidance to reduce or
eliminate calendar-age-based import restrictions. He also talked about the Trusted
Communication Facility, proposed by AWG in collaboration with Aviareto, which
will provide a rapid, secure and trusted means to transmit airworthiness and
aircraft health-related materials. Collet discussed AWG's ESG submissions to EU
taxonomy and its recent work with export credit agencies and the OECD. Forsyte
covered airline restructuring principles and AWG's beliefs that restructuring should
be consensual; there should be no " forum shopping " aimed at harming creditors;
business plans should be viable and transparent; and fair treatment should be
provided to all parties. " The principles are an elective guidance tool for debtors and
creditors, " she said. " They do not represent policy positions or agreement among
individual AWG members. "
The Aircraft Finance Panel followed, which was moderated by Shani Fisher,
counsel at Smith Gambrell & Russell LLP, and featured John Beekman, chief
financial officer at Griffin; Pam Hendry, vice president and treasurer at United
Airlines; Armin Rothauser, partner at Castlelake L.P.; Radha Tilton, managing
investors within the debt market
still recognize us as a good asset
class to invest in. A lot of the
structures are sustainable. " In terms
of what's different, though, he said
it's the " nuances like the belief of
diversification will solve any ills. " When
asked what landmines he's trying to
avoid, Beekman said, " As you look
across the landscape, the airlines that
haven't set themselves up for postCOVID-19
and are just adding on debt.
The number of airlines over-levered
now versus other crises is probably
higher. But a lot of airlines have done
the right things, too. "
Hendry was asked how United might
prepare for the next crisis. " When
we think about transactions - the
financings that we did during this last
crisis - we did so with an eye to
focusing on the future, " she said. " We
need to ensure that interest rates are
in acceptable ranges and the terms
are acceptable as well. Stick by the
terms you know will get you through
to the good times. Say no to deals if
you have to. We pulled a deal out of
the capital markets during the worst
time in the COVID-19 crisis because
the terms would have turned our world
upside down. The deal we ultimately
launched was the loyalty program
financing. That gave us the momentum
to go back to the market with other
interesting structures. "
Jetrader * SPR I NG 2022 * 21
ISTAT Jetrader - Spring 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ISTAT Jetrader - Spring 2022
