ALC hopes to restore relationships with Russian customers – one day

Air Lease Corporation (ALC) Executive Chairman Steven Udvar-Hazy is hoping that his company one day will be able to restore the good relationship it has had with private Russian airlines. Following the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia, ALC has terminated all lease contracts with airline customers like S7, Nordwind, iFly Airlines, and Ural Airlines, but no one liked to take this step. ALC hopes to restore relationships with Russian customers – one day.

Udvar-Hazy said during the Q1 results earnings call that it is too early to speculate on a recovery of the Russian market. ALC took an $802.4 million impairment on 21 owned aircraft in Russia that are unlikely to be returned as a government resolution is blocking this. On his customers, he said: “Bear in mind that we have had long-term relationships with many of these customers, some standing more than twenty years. So as circumstances may change in Russia, there could be avenues where some leased aircraft could be reinstated subject to sanctions and other government regulations and become normalized again. It is just too early as we sit here in May 2022 to make predictions, but I can tell you that our relations with those airlines were very cooperative. These airlines were all looking forward to doing business with us in the future.”