Head of Team: Kathleen Oliver, general counsel

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

The year 2022 marked a strong year for FPG Amentum. On the restructuring side, we acted on behalf of a syndicate of lenders to restructure a lease in connection with a South American airline’s successful exit from chapter 11 proceeding. We subsequently sold the aircraft with the restructured lease attached, resulting in full loan repayment to the lenders and a net gain for the equity investor. The team also delivered eight new aircrafts to European airlines under JOL sale and leaseback transactions using complex dual currency financings with established and new lending counterparties. The successful closing of several aircraft and engine sales at the end of 2022 suggests a return to a more open post-pandemic aviation market.

What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?

The biggest challenges for the aviation industry, as a whole, have been the lingering effects of the pandemic and the development of geopolitical issues impacting aviation. From the legal side, these challenges brought to the forefront a number of contract provisions which, in the normal course, rarely materialise into concrete issues. While FPG Amentum’s direct exposure to such challenges was limited due to the identity and location of our airline customers, we have refined some of our processes and procedures to reflect updates to sanctions regulations and the scope of insurance coverage for aircraft leasing transactions, to ensure that we have incorporated current best practices.

Has the increasing consciousness of climate change and sustainability affected your company and the team’s priorities, and if so how?

FPG Amentum is an active participant in the efforts to decarbonise aviation. We recognise the importance of environmental sustainability and contribute on multiple levels to bringing the conversation around the issue, from the periphery to the forefront. FPG Amentum’s executive chairman, Jan Melgaard, is the founding and acting chair of Aircraft Leasing Ireland’s Sustainability Committee. Aircraft Leasing Ireland was set up in 2018 to give aircraft leasing a single and informed voice to tackle the challenge of climate change and develop a pathway to reach carbon neutrality as targeted by IATA’s net zero 2050 resolution. FPG Amentum is deeply embedded in the efforts of the aircraft leasing community to raise awareness and improve understanding of sustainability in our industry and, most importantly, to define pathways and act on this shared knowledge.