Lessor CDB Aviation has tapped Jie Chen, a top executive at Air Lease Corporation (ALC), to be its next CEO, replacing Patrick Hannigan, who will retire in early 2023.
“The board and I are thrilled that Mr. Chen has elected to take on the important role of leading the exciting next stage of the platform’s development—this is an opportune moment for CDB Aviation to drive its growth momentum with the industry recovery in full swing,” said Hong Ma, Chairperson of CDB parent company China Development Bank Financial Leasing.
Chen will take over at CDB’s top executive following more than 12 years at ALC, where he most recently served as executive vice president, managing director of Asia and president of ALC Hong Kong. Prior to joining ALC, he led International Lease Finance Corporation’s Asia-Pacific sales and marketing efforts.
Chen’s immediate focus will be on “advancing collaboration” among customers, its parent company, “and other stakeholders” to support the industry’s continued recovery, CBD said.
Hannigan, a long-time aircraft leasing executive, joined CDB in 2017 and became its top executive in 2020, helping the lessor grow its reach outside of China, including managing transfers from within China to customers in other parts of the world. CDB has more than 270 aircraft in its portfolio and 110 more on order, compared to a combined total of about 300 when Hannigan started at the company.
“It has been challenging to grow,” Hannigan said at the recent Airline Economics Growth Frontiers conference. “If I look at the five-year plan, we’re behind our five-year plan in terms of trying to put on volume. I think that’s going to improve. I just don’t know when the timing is going be right.”
Growth continues to be a priority for CBD, but several factors are hampering the company’s efforts.
“We still haven’t got back to full recovery, particularly in Southeast Asia,” Hannigan said. “Also, the delays in the new-order deliveries. The problems with the supply chain at the OEM level has meant that the deliveries are not there. They’re not getting financed. The business isn’t there.”
