ISTAT Jetrader - Summer 2019 - 40

BELOW, FROM LEFT:
David Swan, ALI chair and
chief operating officer at
SMBC Aviation Capital;
Paschal Donohue, Ireland's
Minister of Finance; Declan
Kelly, chief commercial officer
at GECAS; and Danny McCoy,
chief executive officer of IBEC.

"I don't see us getting into contentious
areas; that's not what we're about. ALI is
about things that are important for all the
leasing companies."
including blockchain, coming to financial services. We want
to try to tap into those ideas to enhance what we provide for
customers. We have the support of the Irish government to
get industry and technology around the table and see what
ideas they have and how best we can use them."
Another big focus for ALI is on education initiatives, led
by Blaney, the chairman of Aircraft Leasing, Finance & Law
at the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business.
Because of his experience with the aircraft financing industry,
ALI asked him to develop its education initiatives, which focus
on three main objectives:
1. Educate future leaders in the skills and knowledge
required to succeed in the world of aviation finance
with the support of ALI members.
2. Identify the skills and training needs of the industry
and match up the educational resources to produce
the talent required for the industry. "This involves
identifying the needs both today and into the future
and working with the academic world to put the
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necessary programs in place to deliver the skilled
employees required," Blaney says.
3. Determine how Ireland can leverage its position as
a global center for aviation finance into the wider
aviation community by identifying opportunities both
domestically and globally where Ireland's high-quality
education institutions, working with industry, can
expand their training and skills offerings on a wider
global stage.
"These objectives will take time and resources to
implement and will require cooperation between industry and
academia - with government support - to bring to fruition,
but there is a very strong buy-in by all parties, and work has
already begun to that effect," Blaney says.

'The Best Is Still To Come'
ALI is still in its infancy, but the future is bright. The impact
is already being felt in the industry, but "the best of ALI is still
to come," Swan says. With ALI now in place, as new issues
arise, the aircraft leasing industry can now react quickly
and work together to respond. The hardest part was getting
it started, Swan says, and now ALI just has to focus on its
core objectives.
ISTAT Jetrader - Summer 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ISTAT Jetrader - Summer 2019
