Leasing History

Make a Google search using „leasing history”. The results will be interesting. You will learn that „historically leasing emerged at the end of the ХIX century” or that „leasing contracts existed before 2000 years”. Now try expanding the search in the English language using the key-word “leasing history” and your horizon will expand with a few thousand years: „leasing may be followed back to before 5000 years”, and you will learn that leasing was „invented in the USA”, … well there are also a few Russian articles claiming that leasing started in 1998 in Russia.

The Beginning of Leasing History

Although all of the above statements have some truth in them, they only show one or the other side of leasing. Another thing the above articles show is that the leasing always accompanied us. In fact, leasing, as a commercial (or rather, debt) instrument, between people, has probably occurred with the first people, long before the cash and credit relationships. If we had written records from these pre-historic times, the chronicles would have written something like “I gave my spear to Urk, and he committed to return it to me along with half of the catch he will accomplish.” They certainly did not refer to the transaction with the modern word “leasing,” but the essence is absolutely the same.

As we have no written evidence from these times, we can only guess. After the “individual lease” between people, there has certainly been an “institutionalized” one. For example, by giving land or means of production from the temples to the people. Perhaps the same approach was applied to seeds, animals, and all that was necessary to start and execute production.

Evidence of the antiquity of such transactions is the fact that the first written documents which have reached us concerning agriculture, trade, wages, crimes, penalties, family, adultery, slavery, liability and … leasing. In brief, all the necessary rules of civilization.

The column of the sixth King of Babylon, Hammurabi, is one of the oldest decoded written documents which has reached us. The column was dated back to 1754 BC. and describes in 282 laws the “Hammurabi Code”. Laws 47, 48 and 49 provide detailed prescriptions for behavior in various leasing transactions. Laws 64 and 65 even determine the extent of the obligations for lease payments for arable land, namely “2/3 for the lessorOne of the parties to the... More and 1/3 for the lesseeThe lessee is the user of... More”.

Hammurabi’s laws describe and regulate precisely the relationships between people which existed long before their regulation in written form. Therefore, we can claim that the leasing transactions have accompanied people long before 4000 years ago, since when we have the first written evidence.

Ancient Leasing History

As time went by, leasing was developing. In ancient Greece, leasing transactions, apart from land and tools, already included people. On Sparta-managed lands, there were categories of people, the Helots, who were something of a middle class between free men and slaves. They were tied to the conquered lands, and leasing the land involved also leasing of the people who worked on it. Plutarch describes relations with the Helots, precisely mentioning the quantities of barley production they have to convey to their owners, and how much they are allowed to keep for themselves. The Helots not only cultivated the land but (as may be expected in Sparta) were involved in the Spartan military operations. Herodotus describes that in the Battle of Plateau (479 BC), each of the five thousand Spartans was guarded by 7 lightly armed helots.

Further to „leasing of employees” (something which is common today too), ancient Greece is the first to include the leasing of mines, in the long list of leasable property.

Shortly after the first attack from Persia (490 BC), Athenian General Temistolok proposed that part of the “lease proceeds from the silver mines” be directed to the construction of 200 new ships. At that time the mines were state-owned and leased for exploitation against a certain part of the produce or against payment of a fixed sum in drachmas. Mining leases today are typical, although due to the segment’s specifics, they are usually not included in the leasing industry statistics.

Above we mentioned the first attack of Persia over the Greek city-states. It was repelled thanks to the Greek fleet. The same one, which is subsequently financed (quite wisely, from a contemporary point of view) by the proceeds of the lease of the silver mines of Athens. Persia, though a huge empire at the time, originally did not have a fleet. At that time, building a fleet took decades of purposeful efforts. The King of Kings, the heir of Darius, Xerxes I (the king of Persia), was not used to defeat. … and … decided to use the leasing as the easiest source to acquire a fleet in a short time. Ten years after Darius’ defeat in 480 BC, Xerxes headed the second Persian invasion and included a fleet of 1207 warships and 3000 auxiliary ships of the Phoenicians and Egyptians (Herodotus). Though historians have serious disputes about the exact number of ships, there are accurate records of 300 Phoenician ships which were tied together to secure the Dardanelles crossing the Xerxes land army. Either way, the Persians may have the honor to include the ships in the list of the leasing assets. The leasing of ships remains quite popular today.

Leasing in Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome became the country with the greatest contribution to the legalization of the various leasing relationships. As Roman law served as a basis for law in most of today’s world, much of the legal terms have been preserved and are used until today.

For the first time in history, Roman law officially divided the ownership of assets into two components:

• Dominium Directum – the right of ownership, for example, of a landowner over his land
• Dominium Utile – the right of use, for example, by a tenantThe lessee is the user of... More or a lesseeThe lessee is the user of... More

We will never know whether the legalization helped the development of the different forms of renting and leasing or the popularity of these services pushed for legal regulation. In any case, the unbundling of the right of use, as a stand-alone right, allowed for the widespread introduction of various forms of leasing in the Roman Empire.

Ancient Rome accurately classified and named the various leasing services, leasing relationships, and leasing participants. One of the first names of this financial service is “rent” (from Latin “аrrendare” – renting). The term “rent” is used today, albeit with updated content. Some of the other leasing terms introduced by Rome are rarely found today – for example, emphyteusis or “eternal leasing” – perhaps because of their impracticality in modern economic life.

Between 529 and 534 AD, at the order of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, the “Justinian Code” was completed. It is a collection of laws whose purpose was the complete legal regulation of life in the Empire. Naturally, a wide range of leasing relationships is regulated with it. In the fourth book, Title 65 “Leasing and Renting” describes various legal aspects which arise from leasing land, buildings, and warehouses, and provides instructions for solving a number of problems that may arise between the leasing participants. It is in the Code that for the first time the finance leasesee "Financial leasing"... More is differentiated from the short-term renting. Title 66 interprets various cases of emphyteusis – another specific form of leases that were very popular in the Roman Empire.

To the assets, which are leased in the Roman Empire, are increased and now include residential and commercial properties – villas, shops, warehouses, and rooms. The Roman building was called “insula” (island). If the Roman citizen did not have enough money to buy his own house (“domus”), he rented a part of the “insula” from another owner. A leasing assetLease asset is the subject of... More were also all ground premises which were used by different craftsmen and self-employed professions. These rooms were called “tabernae” (the origin of the word “tavern”). The leasing of commercial and industrial premises today has been preserved and has reached a size that would stagger every Roman citizen.

Leasing used for settlement

A form of leasing was used in ancient Rome to settle the newly-conquered territories. Emphytheusis (emphyteusis) is the term for long-term and often eternal lease. Usually, emphyteusis is used for the long-term letting of land that was owned by the Roman state. The emphyteusis provided for a full right to use the land and the goods derived from it, its cultivation and construction on it, against the payment of taxes and possibly a modest rent. Usually, Emphyteusis was hereditary, while preserving its original terms and conditions. Termination of emphyteusis was a relatively rare phenomenon, which occurred only after failure of payment of the compensation due (much like today), breach of some of the other obligations, or in the absence of a lessee’s heir after his death. Although the term is not very popular today, it is still found in the legislation of some countries – Canada, Malta, and others. and is usually used to organize major construction projects.

Leasing in the Middle Ages

“Rent” persisted after the fall of Rome. A form of leasing – the rent of land – overtook the whole of Europe for many centuries in the Middle Ages. Actually, it became the backbone of the whole feudal organization of society.

During these times, the centralized rule of the Roman Empire was already gone. All land was the property of landowners or landlords. Peasants were tied to the land and were called “serfs”. They did not have the right to leave the region or to change their profession. The landlords provided the land and protection, and the serfs were obliged to provide labor and produce food. Part of their produce the serfs provided as rent to their landlordOne of the parties to the... More. Probably it is better said – the surfs were allowed to keep part of their produce, which was left over after payment of the required rent to the landlordOne of the parties to the... More.

The words “rent” and “landlordOne of the parties to the... More” are preserved until today when leasing of real estate is discussed. Their meaning, however, has greatly changed since the Middle Ages.

How Singer Established Hire-Purchase

From antiquity to the 19th century, it could be said that leasing was mainly used to rent fixed assets for production purposes – land, mines, buildings, agricultural equipment, animals and vehicles. In the early 19th century, leasing began to be applied to consumer goods in the United States and the United Kingdom. At the time it was called “hire-purchase”, its name perfectly defining the nature of the transactions – rent, with a subsequent option to buy.

In New York, USA, Cowperthwait & Sons began selling furniture using a hire-purchase in 1807. In London, UK the piano-maker Henry Moore applied hire-purchase to the sale of pianos since 1846. Although these pioneers applied leasing in practice, the service is not yet widespread, especially for the acquisition of consumer goods. It is also important to note that at the time the durable consumer goods were not as numerous as today.

The person who contributed to this innovative service to spread is Edward Clark. Clark is a lawyer from New York. In 1848 he became a consultant to the young Isaac Singer for the registration of the patent of his invention – the sewing machine. In 1851, Clark became a partner in I.M.Singer & Co. 

The first sewing machines produced were heavy and intended for industrial production, but in 1856 Singer produced the first sewing machine for home use. The model was called “Turtle-back” (due to its shape). However, the cost of the model was far beyond what most housewives (Singer’s target customers) could afford – the machine cost $ 125, which at the time was roughly equivalent to 25% of one family’s annual income.

Clark then applied the hire-purchase scheme to the sales of sewing machines. Clients “hired” the machine (the word at that time, which means “rent”) paying monthly installments for its use. These could also subsequently, when accumulated, be used for the purchase of the machine. The initial installment was $ 5 and the monthly installments were between $ 3 and $ 5, including interest. The lease payments were collected personally by the Singer representatives each month, who use the visit to the customers for additional sales (another innovation implemented by Clark). 

Leasing suddenly made sewing machines accessible to all housewives. Sales tripled in the following 1857. For a short time until 1860 Singer became the largest maker of sewing machines worldwide. In 1867 Singer opened its first sewing machine factory in Glasgow, UK. There, of course, Singer continues to sell using hire-purchase, thus spreading the service in the UK. It is important to note that Singer’s sewing machines were neither the first, nor the best, nor the cheapest. Clark’s innovative marketing practices, one of which was hire-purchase, are the main reasons for Singer’s global leadership.

Suddenly the leasing of various household appliances was immediately accepted by all manufacturers. Over time, the lease-purchase scheme was renamed by Singer to “rent-to-own”, “credit sales” and eventually “installment sales” – a term which is popular today in the United States. Only in the UK has the term “hire-purchase” been retained in its original form, being used massively to this day – not just for sewing machines, but for all assets.

How leasing helped the spread of the telephone

On January 30, 1877, Alexander Bell received the patent he sought for his invention the “talking telegraph” (more popular today as the “telephone”). The desire of Bell and his business partners (Watson, Sanders, and Hubbart) was to sell the patent to the Western Union Telegraph Company – the monopolist of the US telegraph at the end of the 19th century. The offered price for the patent was USD 100,000 (about USD 3 million today). The deal did not happen. Western Union was convinced that their business customers would not consider the new service because they would prefer keeping a written record of their communications. It was clear to Bell and his associates that they would have to develop the market for their invention if they wanted their patent to be of any value.

On July 9, 1877, Bell’s partner (as well as his father-in-law), Gardiner Hubbart, established the Bell Telephone Company (which later grew into an American Telephone & Telegraph Company or AT&T) in Boston to commercialize the new invention. Hubbart suggested that the new devices – the telephones (initially it was necessary to buy a pair at the same time) will not be sold against a cash payment but on leasing, with Bell Telephone Company retaining ownership of the telephones. Thus, in addition to the accessibility of the new invention, Bell could control the authenticity of the devices sold (which were relatively easy to manufacture). The leasing service also envisaged the maintenance of the phones and their eventual replacement with newer models. At the end of 1877, the company began leasing its telephones at USD 20 to individuals and USD 40 to businesses.

Needless to say that the endeavor was a success. Leasing helped to create a near-monopoly position for Bell Telephone and Telegraph, but in addition to increasing profits, this also contributed to the rapid standardization of telephone service.

The popularity of the leasing service grew rapidly with the growing popularity of the new product – the telephone, and not just it. Hubbart himself borrowed the leasing idea from a client of his, who manufactured shoe-making machines. Soon manufacturers of various technology in the United States began to use leasing as a way to increase their sales while maintaining a strong relationship with their customers. That’s how the first captiveCaptive Leasing Company is a company... More leasing companiesA company whose main activity is... More were born.

Car Leasing

The first “mass” car was the Ford Model T, which was put on sale in 1908. Only 10 years were needed until the market realized the excellent leasing potential of the new vehicle.

The first car lease was made in 1918 as a car rental contract. This is the year in which the 22-year-old Walter L. Jacobs, a car salesmanSee Provider... More, founded Rent-a-CarRent-a-car (or car rental) is the... More Inc. in Chicago (he coined the term himself). It applied the existing business model for renting horses and carriages, at the time, to the new vehicle. The fleet with which Jacobs started was only 12 Ford Model T. The new car rental service was immediately successful and Jacobs was able to expand his fleet to 20 cars in just eight months. In just 5 years, the company’s fleet grew to 600 cars, generating an annual revenue of USD 1 million.

In 1923 Rent-a-CarRent-a-car (or car rental) is the... More Inc. was purchased by another auto-entrepreneur and innovator – John Hertz. Hertz’s dream was to make the transportation service “accessible to the common man”, having already established several companies: a taxi service company (Yellow Cab Corporation in 1915), a bus transportation company (Chicago Motor Coach Company in 1917) and a car and bus manufacturing company (Yellow Cab Manufacturing and Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company established in 1920 and 1923 respectively). Joining the efforts of the two entrepreneurs gave birth to the Hertz Drive Ur Self Company. With Jacobs’ model and Hertz’s scaling the company quickly covered the entire United States.

In 1923, John Hertz sold most of his businesses to General Motors and took his place on the GM Board of Directors. Jacobs retained his position as President of the company until 1968.

For the first time in history, the Hertz Drive Ur Self Company offered many of the services which we now associate with car leasing – the car rental service, the provision of vehicles initially at train stations and subsequently at airports, the operational leasing of vehicles and fleet management, the use of credit cards to pay for the transportation service and the franchise itself of their business model.

Today, Hertz is a global public company that is present on all continents, represented in 145 countries and has a fleet of more than 600,000 vehicles.

The names of Walter L. Jacobs and John Hertz remain in history as the fathers of car leasing and, more specifically, of the rent-a-carRent-a-car (or car rental) is the... More service, of operating car lease and of fleet management.

The Beginning of “Fleet Management”

In the late 1930s, rent-a-car services were gaining popularity in the US, leasing deals were used by many dealers of fixed assets, large companies already had their own large car fleets, and car dealers offered extended warranties and service for the cars they sold. Just then another car dealer came on the scene who will leave his mark on leasing history. This is Zolman (Zollie) Frank.

In 1939, already the owner of a Chrysler and Plymouth car dealer, he founded his own company, Wheels Inc. In an effort to help a client of his (the pharmaceutical company Petrolager Labs), Zollie “packaged in a radically new way” all the ideas that already existed on the automotive market. He closed the first deal for “full-service, closed-end leasing with included insurance coverage” (today known as “Full-Service Fleet Management”). The deal is for a small fleet of five cars with a tenor of 12 months. Taking into account the benefits of the new service, in the following year, Petrolager Laboratories returned and closed a deal for a fleet of 75 vehicles to be used by all its sales staff. The history of modern fleet management has already begun.

“Customers no longer had to worry about buying, reselling or maintaining their cars or the costs involved. What they were required to do was pour gas in the car and pay a monthly fee of $ 45. ”

Zollie Frank

In 1953, Zollie became a General Motors dealerSee Supplier... More, buying a small Chevrolet dealerSee Supplier... More in Chicago. Zollie’s catchphrase: “Z Frank Before You Buy” (see Frank Before You Buy) and new fleet leasing service quickly help Wheels grow from a minor car dealerSee Supplier... More in Chicago to “the largest car dealerSee Supplier... More in of the world. ”

In addition to being the father of Fleet Management, Zollie is the first to

• set up a national car-service network for leased cars (1948),
• lease trucks (1958),
• offer open-end financial leasingA leasing contract, under which, the... More, then named TRAC Leasing – Terminal Rent Adjustment Clause Leasing.

Today, Wheels is the largest operator of the Fleet Management Service in the United States, a global partner of the European leader ALD Automotive, jointly managing a fleet of more than 2 million vehicles in 56 countries, and the name of Zollie Frank remains forever in the history of leasing.

Leasing During WWII

The grandest leasing transaction of all time is the so-called Lend-LeaseThe Program "Lend-Lease" is a US... More Program. If we need to classify it, it would fall under the “inter-government leasing” category. The Leasing Program was the main vehicle for the provision of US military assistance to Allied countries during the Second World War.

Since the beginning of World War II, Britain was accessing US supplies through “cash & carry” by paying for them mostly with gold. In 1941, however, the country’s gold reserves were all but exhausted, while the need for military equipment was greater than ever. At the same time, the United States was formally neutral to military action and had contractual restrictions on the sale of weapons through “loans or on credit” to the warring states. On March 11, 1941, President Roosevelt signed the Lend-LeaseThe Program "Lend-Lease" is a US... More Act, according to which he could “transfer, lease, and assign” military equipment to governments (which are important for the protection of US interests), while formally complying with all neutral requirements and restrictions. Originally the Lend-LeaseThe Program "Lend-Lease" is a US... More Law was aimed at the British Empire, but as early as 1941 China and the USSR were added to the list of beneficiaries, soon followed by many more countries.

The Program continued throughout the War and ended after the capitulation of Japan in late 1945. In total, over the four years, the program allocated equipment worth over USD 48 billion (at current prices), with 31 billion for the British Empire, nearly 11 billion to USSR, 3 billion to France, 1.6 to China and the rest to another 32 more countries. Bulgaria was not a beneficiary of the Program, probably because, for most of the war, it was an ally of Germany. From the Balkan countries Yugoslavia (32), Greece (81) and Turkey (43) have benefited from the Lend-LeaseThe Program "Lend-Lease" is a US... More Program.

The Lend-LeaseThe Program "Lend-Lease" is a US... More Program has had a significant role in ensuring the recipient countries with US supply of various military equipment: tanks, ships, fighter planes, and bombers as well as non-military equipment: locomotives, wagons, trucks. The Program also provided supplies of food-stuffs, ammunition, fuel, and services (not our standard leasing assets today).

Formally, the Lеnd-Lease Program envisaged the return of the leased equipment after the end of the War. In practice, however, this has rarely happened because of the lack of value in unused military equipment and even more so for the used such. However, several ships have been returned to the United States. The USSR has paid with gold, chromium, manganese and other valuable raw materials for some of the supplies it received. Other countries have compensated payments under the Program by the provision of supplies of spare parts, provision of bases for US troops and supplies for them.

The payment under lend-leaseThe Program "Lend-Lease" is a US... More deliveries have been formalized by post-war bilateral agreements with dramatic reduction of the obligations (90-95%), a dramatic rescheduling of payments – in the case of the UK, the last payment for supplies under this Program was made on 29.12.2006. Obligations for deliveries to the USSR were largely written-off for the most part and formally all were cleared in 1972.

It is clear that the Lend-LeaseThe Program "Lend-Lease" is a US... More Program was needed more as a legal form, rather than as an economic substance. Also, the settlement of obligations under the Program was highly political, and in some cases, a “commitment to fighting for common values” was accepted as payment. Regardless of these considerations, however, the Lend-LeaseThe Program "Lend-Lease" is a US... More Program has left a lasting trace in human history.

“Residual value” and “Cost of driving”

“Residual value”, “Cost of driving” and “Car trade cycles” are terms introduced in 1962 by another renowned car dealer. This is Eustace Wolfington – an innovative Chevrolet car dealerSee Supplier... More from Filadelfia.

After his market research, Wolfington realized that every new car had its almost fixed residual valueThe residual value is present in... More, which can be guaranteed by the car dealers. He also noted that dealers can make major car repairs much better and cheaper than ordinary car owners.

Thus, Wolfington came up with the concept of the “car trade cycle” for two years. His innovative leasing scheme suggested payment of only half the value of the new car by the buyers and returning it to the dealerSee Supplier... More after two years in exchange for a new one. Translated with today’s concepts, this corresponds to an operating lease with a 50% residual valueThe residual value is present in... More.

It took 20 years before his ideas were first tested by Ford in 1982 and subsequently adopted by the entire car and leasing market. Today, Wolfington’s ideas and concepts are at the heart of car leasing around the world.

Leasing under socialism

As “socialism” is a widely used term, here we are considering the East European countries participating in the political divide during the “Cold War” with a focus on Bulgaria.

At first glance, these are two contradicting concepts. “Leasing” implies the existence of private ownership and free disposal of it, while “Socialism” excludes private ownership of the means of production and the arable land. However …

In Bulgaria, as in most of the other socialist countries, there was a single leasing companyA company whose main activity is... More between 1947 and 1989. On the question of why it is “one”,  we can answer that in this period the socialist state favored to have one monopoly enterprise of each kind- a single savings bank (DSK), a single retail insurance companyThe insurance company is a specialized... More (DZI) … and a single lessorOne of the parties to the... More – Bulgarleasing.

Bulgarleasing is not the typical leasing companyA company whose main activity is... More (as DSK was not a typical bank, and DZI was not a typical insurer). Bulgarleasing has never leased to individuals or to private companies, it has never sought economic profits (at least not until 1989). The company was established at the end of the socialist period of the development of Bulgaria (in 1986) rather as means of purchasing various machinery and equipment from the Western countries and importing them into Bulgaria. Leasing in socialism is used only as a form, not as an economic substance. Accordingly, it may be argued that during the years of socialism, leasing did not actually exist in Bulgaria and in other socialist countries.

Aircraft Leasing is Taking off

Until the mid-20-th century, all of the main leasing assets were already in place – land, buildings, tools and equipment, vehicles and telephones. Many of these had already thousands of years of history behind them. … and then a brand new leasing assetLease asset is the subject of... More immerged – aircraft. An asset which could one day dominate the entire leasing market.

The leasing of aircraft today accounts for over 50% of the existing commercial aviation fleet, with the share of financed aircraft and helicopters continuing to increase. Aviation equipment is the second most popular leasing assetLease asset is the subject of... More in the world after automobiles.

This has not always been the case.

It all began one year after McDonnell Aircraft Corporation merged with Douglas Aircraft Company when the first leasing product was launched in the aviation industry. In 1968, the newly formed US aircraft manufacturer McDonnell-Douglas (now part of the Boeing Corporation) offered captiveCaptive Leasing Company is a company... More leasing services for the aircraft it produced. At that time, the first leasing deals with aviation equipment were closed.

Aviation leasing began its development modestly and relatively late – early 70’s of the last century. Its origins are of a small specialized niche market of marginal importance, even for the aviation industry itself. This “niche” market gradually expanded to engulph 50% of the global aviation fleet in 2020 (according to a Boeing’s 2019 forecast), and airplanes have become the world’s second most popular leasing assetLease asset is the subject of... More (after vehicles).

Aircraft leasing is already in the air and is writing its own chapters of the leasing history.

GPA

In the long history of leasing, there are rarely names of people or businesses that have left their mark on the industry. However, there is one company which simultaneously developed an entire leasing segment (almost nonexistent before), raised a small country to a dominant global position, trained a large number of experts in this field and, of course, was the largest in the whole world.

This is a Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA).

GPA is one of the first specialized aviation leasing companiesA company whose main activity is... More established in 1975 in the Republic of Ireland by Tony Ryan (yes, the same one from Ryanair). Tony Ryan had already some experience with single leasing deals of “wet leasing” at Aer Lingus – Ryan’s previous employer and also one of the founders of the GPA. Only 5 years after its founding, GPA is already the leading aviation technology leasing companyA company whose main activity is... More in the world. Initially, lessees are airlines from countries in Asia and Africa which have difficulty raising the necessary funding to buy the costly aircraft. GPA became the major global intermediary between airline companies and manufacturing giants like Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Fokker, and Airbus.

In the 1980s, GPA customers became emerging airlines in the United States, charter airlines in Europe, and airlines in Eastern Europe. The company expanded its offerings with “dry lease”, “sale-lease-back”, and aircraft engine leasing. By the end of the 1980s, GPA’s market capitalization was estimated at USD 4 billion. In 1989, GPAs made the largest order in the world – 308 aircraft for USD 17 billion. The contract should secure the fleet for the company in the next 10 years.

Following this aggressive order for new aircraft, market turbulence (the Gulf War) and lack of financial market support for its IPO, the company ceased operations in 1995. The end of the GPA, however, is the start of an entire industry in Ireland.

Some of the assets of the bankrupt company were sold to GECAS (GE Capital Aviation Services), which also took over some of the GPA’s employees. Tony Ryan himself also transferred to GECAS. Another part of GPA executives and employees launched new start-ups or start working in other aviation leasing companiesA company whose main activity is... More (again in Ireland) – Babcock & Brown, Genesis Lease, Aircastle, Pembroke Capital, ILFC and International Aircraft Management Group. It is this specialized human capital which became the foundation for making Ireland the world’s leading aviation leasing center.

At the same time, the GPA also managed to survive. After restructuring and a series of asset sale transactions, the GPA paid off with its creditors and was stabilized again in 1997. In 1998 the company name was changed to AerFi Group PLC. After a series of mergers and acquisitions, the company is now known under the name AirCap and is one of the top 4 aviation lessors in the world.

Today, specialized leasing companiesA company whose main activity is... More in Ireland are responsible for over 50% of the global aviation leasing, with the GPA legacy as its foundation.

To be continued …