S&P Global Ratings affirmed its average ranking for Stratos Aircraft Management as an aircraft servicer and noted that the company’s ranking outlook is stable.
Stratos Aircraft Management is a third-party servicer of aircraft leases set up in Ireland in late 2017. It is the servicing arm of Stratos Group, which was established in 2013. S&P Global Ratings’ rankings reflect the company’s:
- Continued growth in its servicing portfolio.
- Increased lease activity in 2022 even though it missed its target for aircraft under management by three leases.
- Experienced executive team.
- Satisfactory induction program and adequate level of continuous education training hours primarily consisting of attendance at external aviation-related diploma and masters programs sponsored by the company.
- A business risk assessment covering a broad spectrum of risk areas, including but not limited to economic, environmental, operational and compliance being performed annually with open items reviewed by the company’s board quarterly.
- Testing against compliance with policies and procedures performed by its manager of operation controls, though it lacks an internal audit function typically in place for larger servicers. In addition, Grant Thornton conducts assessments on agreed upon procedures, which identified discrepancies between its findings and those found during the operative controls review in Stratos’ most recent review.
- Access-based lease management system, which has proved to be suitable to handle servicing activities and remains separate from the general ledger.
