NEW YORK (January 16, 2019) — Following a year of dramatic organic growth in its core advisory business, Alton Aviation Consultancy is pleased to recap key 2018 activities and announce further expansion into 2019.
Alton advises aviation and aerospace companies across the entire value chain on strategy and business plan development, financial transaction support, and operational performance improvement. Clients include airlines; lessors and aircraft financiers; aerospace manufacturers; maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and aftermarket service providers; and the financial and investment community.
In 2018, Alton’s market acceptance was exemplified by the privately-held firm growing substantially in size over the prior year, supported by the opening of new offices in Tokyo, Japan and Dublin, Ireland.
Over the past year, more than 50 clients, spread across six continents, entrusted Alton’s team for independent, objective advisory services. The scope of Alton’s engagements spanned the entirety of the aviation value chain, to include:
Commercial due diligence and M&A transaction support for private equity investors across all aviation verticals including aircraft lessors and their portfolios, MRO service providers, OEM part manufacturers, and commercial air carriers
Strategic planning and operational improvement for independent MRO providers
Product studies for aerospace manufacturers and suppliers seeking to bring new offerings to the market across multiple market segments, including business and general aviation
Counterparty risk analysis, market intelligence, and industry research
Airline strategic advisory, business plan development, and investment analysis
Airline fleet planning and network analysis
Strategy and diligence engagements for helicopter operators, lessors, and investors
Bespoke investment strategy in the OEM supplier, MRO, and aftermarket capability sector
Corporate advisory, strategic solutions, and restructuring in support of various aviation operator and related services businesses
“The growth of the business has been a strong validation of Alton’s value proposition for clients, and we are pleased to have been able to provide counsel to numerous clients facing challenging decisions related to new investments, business expansion, and operational efficiencies,” reflected Adam Cowburn, Managing Director.
In 2018, Alton welcomed experienced industry veterans Brian Rynott as a Managing Director in New York and Yuichi Takayama as a Director in Tokyo, adding to the firm’s strength across the Americas and Asia, bringing significant OEM, aircraft leasing, and airline experience to benefit the firm’s clients.
Brian Rynott, Managing Director, reflecting on his experience, added: “Since joining Alton, I have been impressed by the caliber of the team and its deep commitment to quality, objectivity and doing what is in the best interests of its clients. The deep domain expertise of the consulting professionals across the aviation value chain and geographic regions has been impressive.”
Reflecting on 2018 and looking ahead to 2019, John Mowry, Managing Director noted: “We are committed to providing value to our clients with thought leadership and pragmatic industry insights, and that really begins with the strength of our team. Building on a successful 2018, at the start of 2019, we are excited to announce two additional experienced hires that will expand our team in Europe and Asia, further bolstering our airline advisory, aircraft leasing and financing advisory practices.”
Sascha Feuerherd has joined Alton as a Managing Director in Frankfurt, Germany, where a new office is being established. Sascha will expand Alton’s European presence with a principal focus on airline-related advisory engagements, bringing more than 25 years of international experience in consulting and project management focusing on the aviation sector. Prior roles include Head of Airline Restructuring for Lufthansa Consulting and Head of Airline Consulting for IATA in the Europe, Middle East, Russia, and Africa. In these prior roles, Sascha had the opportunity to conduct engagements with airline clients worldwide across all functional areas, while also performing interim executive management roles with certain clients. Sascha specializes in airline business planning and strategy, corporate restructuring, project and cost management, and process and change management.
Bradley Dailey has joined as a Director in Alton’s Hong Kong office, with a principal focus on aircraft leasing/financing and airline-related engagements. Prior to joining Alton, Bradley gained extensive experience in the world’s largest leasing company, AerCap, in a variety of roles. In his most recent capacity as Senior Director Portfolio Management, Bradley was responsible for supporting the aircraft acquisition strategy, which included the successful completion of forward order purchases from both Airbus and Boeing. Earlier in his career Bradley worked in strategic marketing and pricing roles where he was responsible for developing tools designed to inform, support and facilitate the companywide strategy in respect of aircraft lease placements and acquisitions. Notable projects included analyzing the entire ILFC portfolio as part of that acquisition.
Finally, in 2018 Alton was pleased to reaffirm its commitment to social responsibility by joining the Pledge 1%, a corporate philanthropy movement dedicated to making community a key stakeholder in every business. Pledge 1% empowers companies to donate 1% of product, equity, profit, or employee time to improve communities around the world. Alton has elected to contribute 1% of its revenue to Airlink, the rapid-response humanitarian relief organization that links airlines with nonprofits. In addition, Alton has pledged to contribute 1% of its employee time to philanthropic efforts near Alton’s offices in New York, Dublin, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Beijing.