Team size: Eleven

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

We pride ourselves on handling many of our aircraft acquisitions, dispositions, leases, financings and restructurings in-house, relying only in unique circumstances on external support. In the most recent fiscal year alone, we completed more than 115 transactions with a deal value in excess of $2.5bn.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine led to unprecedented commercial and legal challenges for ORIX Aviation and many other Western lessors, and we continue to work with operators, insurers and regulators on finding sensible solutions.

How much influence do you, as a general counsel, have on the diversity and inclusion policies of your organisation? 

I am fortunate to work in an organisation that is proactive on D&I. Our CFO, Marie-Louise Kelly, is chair of the umbrella lobby for our sector, Aircraft Leasing Ireland (ALI). In her role, she was central to over 30 Irish lessors committing to a Sustainability Charter back in October 2022, which has Diversity and Inclusion as one of its core principles.
Within ORIX Aviation, we have multiple teams across departments dedicated to ensuring we are living the values of D&I and the ALI Sustainability Charter. For us, this is not just a compliance issue; it is really about our people and looking after them.

What are some of the main trends in the industry sector you work in in Ireland?

Our business and aircraft leasing in general has rebounded well following the pandemic. A major trend for our industry today is the persisting undersupply of new aircraft from Airbus and Boeing, limiting our airline customers’ ability to fully meet the rising demand for air travel. Available new or used aircraft are being quickly snapped up by airlines, resulting in higher aircraft values and lease rates. This is beneficial to lessors on the one hand, but the low supply from the OEMs affects our ability to grow as well.

Another major theme is our industry commitment to net zero by 2050; this is a huge challenge as flying is inherently energy-intensive and hard to abate, so we consider it critical to support in any way we can the scale-up of sustainable aviation fuels, and other technological or operational advancements to improve on the net impact of air travel.

How have you attempted to bring the legal department closer to your business colleagues? 

Aircraft leasing is an exciting environment to work in. For lawyers, it has the added attraction of deal making, and legal teams are intrinsic to the entire process of buying, selling and leasing aircraft. There is also a lot happening in the middle. So, our departments already have a close working relationship, and we cannot really work without each other. Indeed, it is not uncommon for members of an aircraft leasing legal team to join commercial departments, bringing their legal expertise to a new team, the ultimate in bringing our colleagues closer.