Air Lease to be Acquired in $7.4 Billion Deal, Further Consolidating Airplane Leasing Industry
September 2, 2025 โ – the airplane leasing world is โขshrinking โas Air Lease Corp. (ALC) has agreed to be acquired in a deal valued at $7.4 billion,theโฃ companies โขannounced Tuesday. The move continues โฃa โขtrend of consolidation within the industry.Recent deals includeโค General Electric’s saleโข of its aircraft leasing arm to Aercap in 2021, as the conglomerate focused โonโข core businesses like airplane engine manufacturing. Two years prior, Standard Chartered sold its aircraft leasing business to avilease,โ owned โby Saudiโ arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Often called the โข”godfather” of aviation leasing, Air Lease founder Steven udvar-Hรกzy, who established the company โin 2010 alongside CEO John โขPlueger, โis retiring after shaping the โmodern aircraft leasing business.โ
“Since founding Air Lease in 2010, we have been unwavering in our mission toโ shape the future of the aviationโข industry and provide airlines around theโ world withโข access toโค theโ most modern, fuel-efficient aircraft,” Udvar-Hรกzy said.
Udvar-Hรกzy fledโค soviet Hungary with his parents in the late 1950sโค and previously co-founded ILFCโค in 1973, later selling it to AIG. He ran ILFCโ untill 2010 and announced his retirement from Air Lease this past March.