CFO Outlook: When the sky is the limit with Andy Cronin, Avolon

In this episode of the EY CFO Outlook podcast, Andy Cronin tells host Vincent Wall the story of a Avolon’s remarkable growth from Dublin start-up to a world leader in aircraft leasing in just a few short years.

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Andy Cronin is an engineer by training, not an accountant. Yet he is the co-founder and CFO of one of the world’s biggest aircraft leasing companies. Avolon’s take off and rise to such heights has been enabled by an astute ability to raise capital, a strong founding team, and a vision for the future of transport.

Avolon was founded in 2010, right in the middle of the financial crisis, when capital was scarce but opportunities abundant. Following a complicated funding process, Avolon finally launched with $1.2 billion in capital, making it the largest private equity-backed start-up, anywhere in the world, in any sector at the time.

Since then, the company has grown “beyond [Andy’s] wildest dreams”. Avolon is now the second largest aircraft leasing company in the world, with a balance sheet of $30 billion, 500 aircraft in operation all over the world, and a team of 300 people.

• How Andy, an engineer, became the co-founder and CFO of an aircraft leasing company

• The story of Avolon’s IPO and his experience of running the finance function of a public company versus a private one.

• Raising capital and how Avolon has achieved a credit rating on a par with major banks

• Environmental sustainability and why Avolon is investing heavily in electric ‘flying taxis’ 

• Why Ireland enjoys a ‘monopoly position’ in the aircraft leasing sector

• Why data pays a critical role in Avolon’s success.