ISTAT Jetrader - Spring 2023 - 17

We helped the vast majority of our airlines, our customers, survive.
Some didn't, but the vast majority did, which, when I think about my legacy, being able
to help and support these airlines, it was a privilege to be able to do that.
We spoke some more and decided, " OK, so let's choreograph this. We're going to
execute what we always said we would do and we will exit at the peak of Avolon's
strategic power. " At that stage, we were prepping our budget for 2020, and we
were hopeful of making a billion dollars net profit, which was a milestone that no
Irish company had ever hit in their first 10 years. Then the world changed again.
Avolon was at the epicenter of the pandemic turmoil, as were all the other
aircraft leasing companies, so we just had to batten down the hatches. We had to
put aside all of the wonderful ambitions for glorious successions, and we basically
had to get on a war footing. I coined a phrase right at the start of COVID-19, which
became the rallying call for Avolon at the time: " short metal, long cash. " We just
could not run out of cash. Every single one of our customers was inbound looking
for restructurings. We had to restructure leases, but we kept our own liquidity
quite high. We had, by luck or design, issued a very significant bond early in 2020,
before COVID-19 had kicked off in the West. We battened down the hatches,
dealt with the facts and we got Avolon through. We helped the vast majority of
our airlines, our customers, survive.
Some didn't, but the vast majority
did, which, when I think about my
legacy, being able to help and support
these airlines, it was a privilege to be
able to do that. And let's not forget
my competitors also did the same.
Relationships have always been
central to this sector; the pandemic
certainly deepened them.
So we roll on to mid-2021 when
the worst of the crisis had passed
and we could make plans again,
albeit limited, as Avolon began the
long journey to recovery. Those plans
* SPR I NG 2023 * 1 7
ISTAT Jetrader - Spring 2023

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