Airline Economics has chosen its 40 under 40 for 2023 and High Ridge Aviation’s Barry Moloney is among the current class.
From Airline Economics:
The Airline Economics 40 under 40 Class of 2023 has been compiled from another record amount of nominations and endorsements, many from senior members of the wide aviation community. All 40 members of the final list received 1,305 endorsements in total, with the majority of those from clients.”
View the full article at https://secure.viewer.zmags.com/services/htmlviewer/content/0f72c36c#/0f72c36c/60
Barry Moloney
VP Portfolio Management and Originations, High Ridge Aviation
Individual writeup located at https://secure.viewer.zmags.com/services/htmlviewer/content/0f72c36c#/0f72c36c/91
Barry Moloney first entered the aviation industry with aircraft lessor GECAS in 2015 as a financial accountant before moving to aircraft trading where he honed his skills. Barry participated in the sale of over $6.5bn of assets during the final three years of Gecas* existence and was among the small group of the Gecas commercial team kept on following the AerCap merger, where he successfully navigated his transition to the AerCap trading team becoming an integral member of the new team.
With his strong background in finance, operations and trading, Barry’ was a sought after member of the new leasing company High Ridge Aviation, which he joined in December 2022 as one of the first non-founding employees. Former colleagues expressed their surprise when Barn* took the leap from a stellar career trajectory at AerCap to join a new company but also share their utmost confidence in his abilities to excel in any role. They have certainly been proven correct since during his time at High Ridge Aviation, Barry has been instrumental in the origination of a significant pipeline of opportunities so far, and top management praise his impact and significant contribution to the company’s growth in such a short period of time as “truly phenomenal”.
Barry describes joining High Ridge as one of his career highlights: “Playing a significant role in building a new lessor from the ground up – asset acquisition, building pricing and portfolio management processes, exposure to debt and equity raising – all while being surrounded by some of the best industry experts has not only been a career highlight but will undoubtedly shape my career going forward. We have achieved a lot as a team here at HRA already, and I’m excited to be a part of building on our momentum.”
Barry is described as “the proverbial “utility player” or “Swiss Army pen knife” employee that is especially attractive for a start-up leasing company” given his wide-ranging expertise in trading, lease restructuring, financial modelling, process simplification and systems development. Clients, colleagues and peers al) endorse his talent for problem solving and practical approach to daily challenges, his attention to detail along with his natural customer focus who is “always a pleasure to work with” and the “epitome of a person you would want to have on a winning team” Barry- is a consummate professional and a team player that has prepared him well for his new role where he has been active in many areas during the start up phase.
Coming from the west of Ireland where aviation is part of the lifeblood of the area, the industry- was a natural choice for Barry. “With my first opportunity to visit a hangar, I knew this was the industry- for me,” he says. “The scale, power and complexity of aviation is something that draws you in.”
Post-pandemic, airlines have highly levered balance sheets and are relying on lessors for support, says Barry, who sees significant headwinds brewing for the industry- including “high inflation, risk of regional/ global recession, elevated interest rate environment, supply chain and logistical bottlenecks, geopolitical risks, and, of course, ESG challenges”.
“As experienced lessors and asset managers, we’re prepared to work with our airline partners to tackle whatever comes next,” he says. “As capital-intensive as the industry- is, airlines rely on lessors and financiers to aid in repairing their post pandemic balance sheets, navigate through this volatile and unique recovery environment, and construct the optimal financing solutions for both their current and future fleets.”
With demand for air travel recovering strongly, Barry believes that the future is bright for aviation and aviation finance, with airlines seeing passenger numbers and yields (measured in RPKs) climbing toward prepandemic levels. As OEMs continue to face supply chain challenges, Barry- sees this as a positive for the leasing community- as airlines look to source capacity to replace aging aircraft and meet fleet expansions needs.
“The view at High Ridge Aviation is that the industry will continue to evolve, with lessors increasingly- taking on a specialised asset management role, while partnering with institutional investors and capital raising specialists to manage the most efficient binding strategy for portfolios of aviation assets (i.e., a “managed money” model),” he says. “Post pandemic, more players in the space will follow this natural progression. Despite all the challenges, the world needs to fly. As the most efficient form of travel and no practical replacement for cargo in the world of online shopping, aviation is vital to regional and international commerce. It’s a very exciting time to be in the industry and I’m thrilled to be a part of a very- experienced management team that’s solely focused on this space. It’s sure to be a rewarding and exhilarating ride!”
