Management team
John Willingham
Chief Executive Officer,
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Industry Experience: 26 Years Prior to joining Macquarie AirFinance, John served seven years as Chief Operating Officer and board member of Boullioun Aviation Services, Inc, where he was responsible for day-to-day operations focused on aircraft marketing, technical management and transaction execution. John was the founding Managing Director and board member of Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise Pte. Ltd., which was formed in 1994 by Boullioun and Singapore Airlines. John holds a First Class Honours Masters degree in Classics from Jesus College, Cambridge and is qualified as an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in England. |
Brian Wheatley
Executive Director,
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Industry Experience: 33 years Brian has been a member of our Board of Directors since early 2007 and formally joined the management team in January 2008. He is chairperson of the Management Committee and has overall responsibility for the Irish operations including sales of our owned aircraft globally. Brian, who has 30 years experience in the aviation industry, was a member of the Executive Management Team and Group Treasurer at Aer Lingus up to October 2006, during which time the airline was successfully floated on the Dublin and London Stock Exchanges. In the position of Group Treasurer he was responsible for all financial risk management strategies, the successful fuel price hedging strategy and all aircraft financing at the airline. Prior to being appointed Group Treasurer in 1996, he held the position of General Manager - Subsidiaries with responsibility for the non-core business entities of the Aer Lingus Group. Brian is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Associate Member of the Irish Taxation Institute and holds a Diploma in Applied Finance from the Irish Management Institute. |
Harry Forsythe
Executive Vice President,
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Industry Experience: 22 Years Harry heads the Macquarie AirFinance Marketing team and has global responsibility for our airline relationships. Harry's association with Macquarie commenced in 2007 and, prior to his current position, he was VP Marketing, Asia Pacific, based in the company's Asia Pacific representative office in Singapore, covering Australia & Oceania, Malaysia, Greater China, Korea and Japan. Prior to Macquarie, Harry was with AWAS for 17 years, first in Hong Kong where he established their Asia Pacific regional office, responsible for sales in Asia and finally as VP Marketing in Sydney, Australia and later Seattle. He started his aviation career with Short Brothers (now Bombardier) in Belfast, N. Ireland and he later joined Saab Aircraft. Harry holds an HNC in Engineering from The Ulster College, Jordanstown, N. Ireland. |
Jeff Buckio
Executive Vice President,
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Industry Experience: 29 Years Before joining Macquarie AirFinance, Jeff served as Vice President, Technical Operations for GATX Air from 1999, where he was responsible for new aircraft deliveries, used aircraft transitions, technical lease negotiations and technical budgets and expenditure management for the portfolio. Prior to his service with GATX Air, Jeff was an aviation technical consultant for two years with MJB Consulting, representing leasing companies worldwide by performing the technical responsibilities associated with aircraft inspection, leasing and transition. Prior to consultancy, Jeff was Vice President of Maintenance and Engineering for Reno Air from 1995 to 1998 and Director of Quality Assurance from 1992 to 1995. He was1 of 5 on the start up team for the airline. Prior to Reno Air, Jeff held managerial positions with Midway Airlines in Chicago from 1980 until 1991, leaving there as Director of Technical Services. Jeff studied Political Science at The Ohio State University, served in the US Air Force in Vietnam, and has a current FAA Airframe and Powerplant License, and Private Pilot's License. |
Stephen Moulton
General Counsel,
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Industry Experience: 20 Years Stephen has been General Counsel of Macquarie AirFinance since 2006. Before joining Macquarie AirFinance, Stephen served as Assistant General Counsel of GATX Financial Corporation. In his eleven years with GATX, Stephen was responsible for documentation, regulatory, compliance and litigation issues affecting GATX Air. Stephen also played a significant role in the negotiation of GATX's secured and tax-based aircraft financings and its aircraft sale, purchase and leasing transactions. In addition, he shared responsibility for the development and maintenance of relationships with lenders and joint venture partners. Before joining GATX, Stephen practiced law at Clifford Chance in London, Tokyo and Frankfurt for ten years, where he advised a variety of clients on asset finance, corporate lending and project finance transactions. Stephen received a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from King's College, London University, and is admitted as a Solicitor in England and Wales. |
Brian Di Santo
Senior Vice President,
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Industry Experience: 14 Years Prior to joining Macquarie AirFinance as Head of Risk Management, Brian held the position of Program Manager with GATX Air. In this function, he was responsible for the business management of the Embarcadero Aircraft Securitization Trust (EAST). Before taking on the Program Manager role, Brian spent six years on GATX's Investment Risk Management team, with a specific emphasis on evaluating lease placement and new investment opportunities. In this capacity, he also had a principal responsibility of managing airline workouts and restructures, including aircraft repossessions. Prior to Brian's eight years with GATX, he held positions in business analysis and credit/risk management with the transportation equipment leasing firms PLM Investment Management and XTRA International Inc. Brian has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis. |
John Petkovic
Chief Financial Officer,
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Industry Experience: 10 Years John is responsible for treasury, investment analysis, budgeting, capital markets, strategy, accounting, tax and IT at Macquarie AirFinance. John was previously employed by Macquarie and had a leading role in establishing the Macquarie AirFinance platform. Prior to joining Macquarie, John served four years at AWAS as Manager of Corporate Strategy, advising the Chief Executive Officer. Prior to these roles, John spent four years as a chartered accountant with a major accounting firm, first in Audit and later in Mergers and Acquisitions. John then spent two years working as the key adviser to the former Premier of NSW, Hon. Mr. Nick Greiner, supporting directorships for several leading Australian companies and consulting services to investment banks, law, accounting and private equity firms. John holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance and Accounting) from the University of NSW and is a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia. |
Sharon Wilson
Senior Vice President,
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Industry Experience: 12 Years Prior to joining Macquarie AirFinance, Sharon held positions as Director of Tax and Vice President – Corporate Finance at GATX Financial Corporation. As Director of Tax, she was responsible for the full scope of tax functions, including tax structuring and administration of lease transactions. In her Corporate Finance role, she performed economic analysis and lease structuring, working primarily with GATX Air. Sharon also spent five years as Director of Tax at Bank of the West. During her tenure, she was involved with the integration of four acquired entities, in addition to managing the more traditional tax functions. Sharon also served as the head of tax for a U.S. conglomerate and spent four years at a Big 8 public accounting firm. Sharon has both a Bachelor of Business Administration (Accounting) and a Master of Professional Accounting (Tax) from the University of Texas. She is a Texas CPA. |