Executive Management Team

Yuichiro Noguchi

Chairman

Mr Yuichiro Noguchi became Chairman of elfc in June 2019. Mr. Noguchi also holds a position at Jackson Square Aviation Ireland Limited. Until May 2019, he held the position of Deputy General Manager and Executive Expert, Aviation Business Department (ABD) at Mitsubishi HC Capital (MHC).

After 20+ years of experience in aviation finance/ structured finance field, Mr. Noguchi joined MHC in 2009. Since then, he has held various positions, including: Product Syndication Office responsible for JOLCO equity underwriting and distribution, secondment to Jackson Square Aviation (JSA) in San Francisco for post-merger integration of JSA after its acquisition by MHC.

Mr. Noguchi’s relationship with elfc started in 2016, as Deputy General Manager of ABD to oversee the company and work closely with elfc management and staffs.

Mr. Noguchi holds a Bachelor of Economics from Aoyama Gakuin University.

Tom Barrett

President & CEO

Mr. Barrett is the President & CEO of elfc.

Shortly after elfc was launched in 1990 Tom was employed in the role of financial accountant. In the period since 1990 he has been involved in every transaction that the Company has conducted, notably the 1996 acquisition by BTMUCC, the 1998 creation of the Aviation Lease Finance joint venture with Volvo Aero, 2011 acquisition of the Macquarie engine portfolio. Since 2002 he has managed the Company’s syndication platform that has led to the successful creation of five partly owned or managed collaborations with Sumitomo Corporation, DVB Bank, MHC, GSI KG Funds and Mitsubishi Corporation.

Tom is a 1985 business graduate of the University College Dublin and qualified with KPMG as a Chartered Accountant in 1988.

Richard Hough

Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Hough is the Chief Operating Officer for elfc.

Richard started his career in aviation in 1990 as an apprentice aircraft maintenance technician with Shannon Aerospace and after qualification was appointed team leader of the engines team. Over the following five years he obtained various maintenance engineer licenses and approvals for both airframe and engine.

In April 1997 he joined elfc as Technical Services Manager. His early role involved a mixture of technical, sales and marketing research functions. In 2000 he was promoted to the position of Vice President Technical with responsibility for asset management, engine valuations and technical aspects of contract negotiation. In 2009 Richard was promoted to the position of Senior Vice President Technical, with responsibility for day to day operations of the technical department including management of a portfolio of 200+ engines. In 2011 he was appointed as Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer with overall responsibility for the technical function of elfc, a position he held until taking up his current role as Chief Operating Officer in January 2022.

In addition to his aeronautical engineering licenses, Richard has a Diploma in Business Studies (Hons) from the National University of Ireland and an MBA in Aviation Management from the University of Limerick.

Darren Wormald

Executive Vice President & General Counsel

Mr. Wormald is Executive Vice President and General Counsel for elfc.

Darren is an English law qualified barrister who previously worked as in-house Legal Counsel at UBS AG and Lehman Brothers Europe.
Now based in London he has over 20 years of experience in delivering legal advice, risk management and transaction support/execution in the spare engine leasing/finance sector.

Darren has worked on a number of industry leading transactions including the acquisition of Macquarie Engine Leasing (2011) and a KG engine portfolio transaction (2007) that were each given the Airfinance Journal`s Engine Deal of the Year Award.

Aoife Fennell

Executive Vice President & Chief Technical Officer

Ms. Fennell is Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer for elfc.

Aoife joined elfc in 2000 with responsibility for asset management. She was then promoted to the position of Manager of the EMEA technical team where she was responsible for leading the asset management, spare engine portfolio operations and technical commercial support for the customers and engines in that region. In 2022 Aoife was appointed as Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer with overall responsibility for the technical function

Aoife has over 25 years aviation experience gained in airline, MRO and leasing roles. She holds a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from University of Limerick, a diploma from the Law Society of Ireland and has held previous positions at TEAM Aer Lingus and FLS Aerospace prior to her current role.

Avril Comerford

Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Ms. Comerford is Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer for elfc.

Avril joined elfc in 2013 and since then has held several positions of increasing responsibility within the finance department, contributing notably to areas of digitisation, Japanese Sarbanes Oxley & large transactions such as business combinations. In 2023 Avril was appointed as Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer.

Avril has 20+ years of experience in the aviation industry, graduating from University College Dublin in 1994 and holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree. Avril subsequently qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1998 with BDO Simpson Xavier. Avril also holds an Aviation Diploma from the Law Society of Ireland.

Julian Jordan

Chief Commercial Officer

Mr. Jordan is the Chief Commercial Officer for elfc.

Julian is responsible for developing and executing elfc group’s global sales and leasing strategy across all commercial divisions including new business growth, engine portfolio management and INAV engine material supply.

Following commercial roles for elfc commencing in 2000 in S.E. Asia, Europe and the Middle East, he was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2008 to assume responsibility for new products, including expansion into joint venture aircraft leasing. In 2020 Julian was appointed Executive Vice President & Head of New Business overseeing the company’s worldwide sales team and execution of all new business activity, a position he held until taking his current role as Chief Commercial Officer in February 2023.

Julian is a 1993 sponsored graduate of Aston University in the UK and started his career with a BSc (Hons) at BTR PLC and Dowty Group PLC in aerospace and defense manufacturing.

Joe Hussar

Executive Vice President & Head of Portfolio

Mr Hussar is Executive Vice President & Head of Portfolio for elfc Corporation.

Joe Hussar began his career in aviation in 1995 while employed at BTM Capital Corporation remarketing aircraft for owned and serviced portfolios. In 2002, he joined elfc Corporation with his current role serving as Executive Vice President & Head of Portfolio overseeing all activities related to remarketing, portfolio servicing, syndication and capital markets.

Joe is a 1992 graduate of the Bryant University School of Management and in 1996 received a Masters of Business Administration with a Finance concentration from the Sawyer School of Management at Suffolk University.

Ed Colleran

Executive Vice President & Chief Risk Officer

Mr Colleran is Executive Vice President & Chief Risk Officer for elfc.

Ed joined elfc in 2012, he has over 18 years Aviation experience and is responsible for managing a team of 5 analysts with global coverage, based out of our Shannon office.

Ed’s career has covered both aircraft leasing – initially with RBS Aviation Capital (now SMBC) and then AWAS (now DAE). Previously he also worked in Bank of Ireland in Corporate Banking, Business banking and Credit Audit. He is a Graduate of University College Galway and the University College Dublin Smurfit Business School.