Management Team
Aengus Kelly
Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, AerCap Holdings N.V.
Mr. Kelly was appointed Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of our company on May 18, 2011. Previously he served as Chief Executive Officer of our U.S. operations since January 2008 and he was our Group Treasurer from 2005 through December 31, 2007. He started his career in the aviation leasing and financing business with Guinness Peat Aviation in 1998 and has continued working with its successors AerFi in Ireland and debis AirFinance and AerCap in Amsterdam. Prior to joining GPA in 1998, he spent three years with KPMG in Dublin. Mr. Kelly is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and a Master’s degree in Accounting from University College Dublin.
Keith Helming
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Helming assumed the position of Chief Financial Officer of AerCap in 2006. Prior to joining us, he was a long standing executive at GE Capital Corporation, including serving for five years as Chief Financial Officer at aircraft lessor GECAS. He was with General Electric Company for over 25 years, beginning with their Financial Management Program in 1981. In addition to the GECAS role, Mr. Helming served as the Chief Financial Officer of GE Corporate Financial Services, GE Fleet Services and GE Consumer Finance in the United Kingdom, and also held a variety of other financial positions throughout his career at GECC. Mr. Helming holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Indiana University.
Wouter (Erwin) den Dikken
Chief Operating Officer
Mr. den Dikken was appointed as our Chief Operating Officer in 2010 in addition to his role as Chief Legal Officer to which role he was appointed in 2005. Mr. den Dikken also previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of our Irish operations. He joined our legal department in 1998. Prior to joining us, Mr. den Dikken worked for an international packaging company in Germany as Senior Legal Counsel where he focused on mergers and acquisitions. Mr. den Dikken holds a law degree from Utrecht University.
Tom Kelly
Chief Executive Officer, AerCap Ireland Limited
Mr. Kelly was appointed Chief Executive Officer of AerCap Ireland in 2010. Mr. Kelly previously served as Chief Financial Officer of our Irish operations and has a substantial aircraft leasing and financial services background. Previously, Mr. Kelly spent ten years with GECAS where his last roles were as Chief Financial Officer and director of GECAS Limited, GECAS’s Irish operation. Mr. Kelly also served as global controller for GECAS in his role as Senior Vice President & Controller. Prior to joining GECAS in 1997, Mr. Kelly spent over eight years with KPMG in their London office, acting as a Senior Manager in their financial services practice. Mr. Kelly is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University College Dublin.
Edward (Ted) O’Byrne
Chief Investment Officer
Mr. O’Byrne has been appointed Chief Investment Officer in January 2011. Previously he held the position of Head of Portfolio Management overseeing aircraft trading, OEM relationships and portfolio management activities. He also currently serves as Chairman of the Board of AerCap’s subsidiary AerVenture. Mr. O’Byrne joined AerCap in July 2007 as Vice President of Portfolio Management and Trading. Prior to joining AerCap, he worked as Airline Marketing Manager at Airbus North America and later as Director, Sales Contracts for Airbus Leasing Markets in Toulouse, France. Mr. O’Byrne received his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and his BA from EuroMed in France.
Paul Rofe
Group Treasurer
Mr. Rofe was appointed Group Treasurer of AerCap in January 2008, previously serving in the role of Vice President Corporate Group Treasury, since joining the company in September of 2006. He began his career in the aviation leasing and financing business with a Kleinwort Benson subsidiary in 1995, and then moved to BAE Systems for seven years, where he held the positions of Director Asset Management and General Manager—Portfolio Management. Mr. Rofe qualified as an accountant in 1986 in the United Kingdom.
Joe Venuto
Chief Technical Officer
Mr. Venuto was appointed Chief Technical Officer of AerCap in February 2012. He previously served in the role of Senior Vice President Operations for the Americas at AerCap for four years. From 2004 to 2008, he was the Senior Vice President Operations at AeroTurbine responsible for all technical related issues. Prior to joining AeroTurbine, Joe Venuto held the role of Senior Director Maintenance at several airlines including Trump Shuttle, Laker Airways and Amerijet International. He has over 30 years experience in the aviation industry and he commenced his aviation career as an Airplane & Powerplant technician for Eastern Airlines. Joe Venuto is a graduate of the College of Aeronautics and a licensed FAA Airframe and Powerplant Technician.
Kenneth Wigmore
Chief Marketing Officer
Mr. Wigmore was appointed Chief Marketing Officer for AerCap in September 2011. Previously he held the position of Head of Marketing for the Americas, overseeing customer relationships in North and South America since January 2008. Mr. Wigmore joined AerCap in April 2003 as Vice President Airline Marketing. Prior to joining AerCap, he worked as an Airline Analyst and later as Sales Director-China over a nine-year period with the aircraft manufacturer Fairchild Dornier. Mr.Wigmore holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Mount Saint Mary’s University in Maryland, USA.
