Business Person of the Month March 2021: Aengus Kelly, CEO AerCap

Aengus Kelly is our Business Person of the Month March 2021, in association with KPMG.

Aengus Kelly has led AerCap in it’s $30bn acquisition of GECAS. The chief executive officer of AerCap, the company that buys aircraft which it then leases to airlines around the world, made the purchase earlier this month and, in doing so, doubled the size of the aircraft leasing company.

The deal means that AerCap, the Dublin-based industry that owns 40% of the world’s airline fleets and already the world’s largest lessor, is now double the size it was. The consolidation with GECAS, formerly the second largest jet-leasing business, has created a mammoth entity, the world’s largest aircraft lessor, with a fleet of over 2,000 jetliners, 300 helicopters and 900 engines.

The aviation industry has been dramatically effected by the travel restrictions imposed in an effort to curb COVID19. Kelly is optimistic that the industry will bounce back. In an interview he gave, after the announcement of the acquisition, he said:

“Now is the time we should be looking for opportunity because the signs are there that the inevitable upturn in aviation is coming.”

As a result of the transaction, GE will own 46 per cent of AerCap, and must hold those shares for a minimum of nine months after completion. Then it has the option to sell on the first of three tranches of the stock and can sell the second after a year and the third after 15 months.

Kelly was appointed Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of AerCap on May 18, 2011. Previously he served as Chief Executive Officer of AerCap’s U.S. operations from January 2008 to May 2011. He served as AerCap’s Group Treasurer from 2005 through December 31, 2007. AerCap is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (AER) and has its headquarters in Dublin with offices in Shannon, Los Angeles, Singapore, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Abu Dhabi, Seattle and Toulouse.