Air Lease announced its board of directors has appointed John L. Plueger as CEO and president effective July 1, 2016. Steven Udvar-Házy will assume the role of executive chairman of the board on July 1, 2016, a full-time officer role.

In addition, the board of directors has promoted Gregory Willis to executive vice president and chief financial officer from senior vice president and chief financial officer effective July 1, 2016. Willis joined ALC in March 2010 as its vice president of finance and chief accounting officer. In February 2012, he became its senior vice president and chief financial officer.

Plueger joined ALC as its president and chief operating officer and member of its board of directors in March 2010, shortly after the company was formed. Plueger has more than 30 years of aviation industry and aircraft leasing experience, 24 of which were with International Lease Finance, where he served on its board of directors, as president and chief operating officer and then acting chief executive officer prior to joining Air Lease.

“On behalf of the board of directors, I thank Steve for his extraordinary leadership of ALC as its founder, chairman and chief executive officer,” said Robert Milton, ALC’s lead director. “Steve started ALC in February 2010, and as a result of his vision and guidance, the company today owns and manages 268 young and in-demand jet aircraft on lease to 88 airline customers around the world, and has an order book of 386 new jet aircraft to be delivered from Airbus and Boeing though 2023. These role changes are part of the board’s long-term succession plans and the board is pleased that as a result of these changes, ALC will benefit from both John’s expanded role, and no diminishment in Steve’s drive and commitment to building an ever bigger and stronger ALC.”

“John and I have worked together for over 30 years and I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished in six short years at ALC and look forward to continuing to partner with John in my new role as executive chairman,” said Steven Udvar-Házy. “In this role, I will continue to work closely with our airline customers, OEMs and financiers to modernize and grow airline fleets and make ALC the premier leasing company in the world.”

“I joined Steve at ALC because I wanted to be part of a team that was committed to be the very best aircraft leasing company in the world,” said John L. Plueger. “I am honored to serve as ALC’s next chief executive officer and I look forward to working with Steve, our fantastic team at ALC, and all of our global constituencies and stakeholders to best serve our airline customers, drive forward our strategic business priorities, and provide industry leading returns to our stockholders.”

“Steve and I are very pleased to acknowledge Greg’s contributions to ALC’s success over the last six years,” said John Plueger. “He has earned tremendous respect within ALC internally, as well as in the accounting, financial, and investment communities, and in our industry overall. He is well deserving of this promotion to executive vice president in his corporate title as he continues to lead our financial organization as CFO.”