Barry Fitzgerald on Building a $10 Billion Aircraft Leasing Platform

Barry Fitzgerald on Building a $10 Billion Aircraft Leasing Platform

Ireland’s Pivotal Role in Aircraft Leasing

Ireland has established itself as the global epicenter for aircraft leasing, managing and financing over 60% of the world’s leased aircraft. This dominance stems from a combination of strategic government support, a favorable tax environment, access to the European Union market, and a highly skilled workforce. Dublin alone is home to more than 30 leasing companies, supported by specialized academic programs that prepare professionals for the sector. The origins of this industry date back to the 1970s when Tony Ryan, a former Aer Lingus executive, partnered with the Guinness Peat Group to launch a leasing venture in Shannon. Their pioneering insight—that airlines benefit more from leasing aircraft than owning them outright—transformed the aviation landscape. Leasing provides airlines with the flexibility to adjust to fluctuating cash flows and passenger demand, much like how cloud computing offers agility to IT operations.

By 2004, half of the world’s commercial aircraft were leased, and today that figure has risen to approximately 60%. This growth underscores Ireland’s continued leadership and innovation in the sector, with Irish-leased aircraft taking off somewhere in the world every two seconds.

Digitizing a Traditionally Paper-Heavy Industry

Barry Fitzgerald, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Cloudcards, is a key figure driving digital transformation within this traditionally paper-intensive industry. His connection to aircraft leasing is personal; his brother founded Civil Aviation Services, an engineering firm at Shannon Airport specializing in technical management for leased aircraft. When Fitzgerald joined the company in 2006, he identified a significant opportunity to digitize the complex and cumbersome processes involved in aircraft transitions between lessors.

Historically, these transitions generated vast amounts of paperwork and data, often stored in physical formats. Fitzgerald recalls the early stages of this digital shift: “We digitized how you perform that type of work. We started with an Excel model with macros and a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) site, on which we digitized 60 boxes of aircraft records, which are fundamental to the value of the machine.” The introduction of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology made these records searchable, initially stored on DVDs before migrating online to facilitate global access and collaboration.

Cloudcards aims to revolutionize aircraft leasing in the same way Amazon Web Services transformed retail, by bringing digital innovation and efficiency to an industry long reliant on manual processes.

Navigating Industry Challenges and Market Volatility

Building a $10 billion aircraft leasing platform is not without its challenges. The industry currently faces significant headwinds, including global supply chain disruptions projected to cost airlines more than $11 billion this year. These delays increase fuel and maintenance expenses and compel airlines to lease additional engines, thereby adding operational complexity. Furthermore, Cloudcards must compete with established players and respond to strategic moves by rivals, such as Turkish Airlines’ exploration of joint ventures with Air Algerie.

Market volatility further complicates the landscape. Large conglomerates like the Tata Group have experienced substantial declines in market value, losing tens of billions due to sector-wide uncertainties. Despite these obstacles, Cloudcards is positioning itself as an essential digital backbone for the aircraft leasing industry. By streamlining documentation, enhancing data accessibility, and enabling real-time collaboration among stakeholders, Fitzgerald’s vision is to make aircraft leasing as agile and resilient as the airlines it supports.