A veteran of the airline industry, Fred Swanevelt joined the Winstead Airlines Team in August 2020 as the firm’s first fleet management consultant. Before joining Winstead, Fred worked at American Airlines for over twenty years, most recently for seven years as the director of fleet transactions.
An industry expert who has spent a quarter century in the airline industry, Fred understands the many issues airlines need to consider when it comes to fleet management, the related aircraft transactions and financings. Therefore, it was a pivotal time for him to start this role, as the COVID-19 pandemic had turned the airline industry upside down.
At American, one of the world’s largest airlines, he led a team that was tasked with negotiating and managing aircraft purchase agreements, leases and aircraft sales agreements for a vast fleet of nearly 1,500 aircraft. In just a five-year span, the team completed an impressive number of transactions, including a total of more than 400 new or used aircraft deliveries and the disposition through sale or lease return of roughly 300 aircraft.
From negotiating lease agreements to hammering down the details of purchase agreements for regional jets, Fred handled a broad spectrum of crucial aspects of American Airlines’ fleet evolution during his tenure. Since joining Winstead, Fred has made a significant impact as he helps the firm’s clients’ navigate their fleet strategies during these unprecedented times.
As someone who has spent 25 years in the airline industry, Fred understands the challenging decisions that airlines need to make. After all, when companies are planning their fleet, they are not just making a choice that impacts them for one year. These are decisions with ramifications for years, if not decades, to come. Fred understands these nuances, and he is able to leverage his decades of experience to help Winstead’s clients make well-informed decisions in order to create both a sustainable present and a promising future.