We sat down with one of MDI’s International Procurement Associate, JT Stenglein, to hear about his time at the three-day Airfinance Journal Conference in Dublin. Here are a few of his thoughts and insights from attending the conference this past January:

Q: What was the purpose of MDI attending the conference and some goals you wanted to accomplish at the conference? 

A: MDI attends conferences such as Airfinance for the networking opportunities and to gain further insight on the climate of the leasing and aviation market. The plan was to meet with airlines and lessors to better meet their needs on available opportunities throughout 2019. From the conference, and with my goals in mind, I gained a lot of knowledge on the turboprop market, which can be packaged into a larger deal, involving outside capital and numerous parties’ involvement. This was, by far, the most interesting topic for me, especially how deals are structured on the front and back end. Gaining knowledge of that alone, I would gladly attend the conference again. There were hundreds of people throughout the conference, and I was able to reconnect with others I had met at previous conferences. In fact, Dublin is such a beautiful and friendly city that it made the conference that much better to attend. 

Q: What portion of the conference did you most enjoy? 

A: Vedder Price held a wonderful wine reception. Great people, amazing food, and even better wine. There was also a night that we traveled to the coast for an incredible authentic Pakistani dinner with the Residco Team. The atmosphere was enjoyable, and the food was delicious. It was nice to escape the city for a few hours as well. 

Q: What was your overall take away from the conference, and how you plan to implement what you learned to benefit MDI?

A: The financial structuring of deals was the most interesting. The deals shown were very complicated and involve numerous moving parts, but this intrigues me the most, and invites a lot of problem-solving opportunities. I plan to implement it by allowing myself to be more creative in my presentation of possible deal opportunities. There are a lot of potential opportunities for MDI after networking at the Airfinance Journal Conference.