# GA Telesis

GA Telesis is an American multinational company based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The company provides aviation aftermarket services, including component sales, aircraft maintenance and aviation finance.

## History

GA Telesis was founded on April 10, 2002 by Abdol Moabery and aviation pioneer George E. Batchelor. Batchelor is the founder of Arrow Air, a major airline based at Miami International Airport that operated flights between the United States and Latin America. Batchelor died in July 2002, shortly after GA Telesis was founded. His stake was subsequently acquired by Moabery, a US Navy veteran who previously served as Executive Vice President of Aviation Systems International and, before that, worked in trading with Soros Fund Management backed by C&S Aviation Services. As a graduate of Florida Atlantic University, Moabery additionally was a gubernatorial appointee of Florida Atlantic's board of trustees from 2011 to 2021, holding its chairmanship from 2019 to 2021.
GA Telesis was named to reflect the initials of its founders, Batchelor and Moabery, with "Telesis" symbolizing progress achieved through human effort. While Batchelor initially wanted their full names included, Moabery later persuaded him to use their initials.
Moabery estimated, in an interview with Jetrader magazine, that GA Telesis first gained widespread recognition in 2006. In 2007, GA Telesis announced an investment - a subsidiary of Merrill Lynch & Co., today part of Bank of America, invested an undisclosed amount for a 49% stake in the aviation firm. In the same Jetrader interview, Moabery explained that he chose the investment from Merrill Lynch so that he could retain a controlling stake in the company.
In 2011, the company expanded its operations by acquiring Ultimate Aircraft Composites, a Fort Lauderdale-based firm which repaired and manufactured composite material components for commercial airliners, such as radomes, flight control surfaces, and doors. The company further expanded operations in 2013 into aircraft engine repair, acquiring a part of Finnair's Engine Services division and rebranding it as GA Telesis Engine Services (or GATES for short), employing 80 technicians. Early engines repaired by GATES include the General Electric CF6-80C2, CFM International CFM56-5B and -5C, and Pratt & Whitney PW2000. Later in 2012, GA Telesis partnered with Air China to form a joint venture, GA Innovation China, based out of Beijing Capital International Airport, which would become China's integrated aircraft trader of used aircraft in the middle of their lifespan. By 2015, GATES would employ 100 people.
In 2014, GA Telesis signed an agreement with Boeing to sell aircraft and engine components through a new section of Boeing's official parts marketplace. Under the agreement, Boeing would designate GA Telesis as a preferred partner of aircraft on-ground repair services, freighter conversions, and engine programs and enable GA Telesis to supply the Boeing marketplace with airframes and engine parts for all aircraft, regardless of whether Boeing manufactured it. Boeing would back parts for its aircraft with material certification, a one-year warranty, and a repair tag from a Boeing-audited repair facility. GA Telesis' Boeing marketplace page would initially serve the 737 Classic, 737 Next Generation, 747, 757, 767, and 777, as well as the McDonnell Douglas MD-80, Airbus A320, A330, and A340, De Havilland Canada Dash 8, and Bombardier CRJ.
GA Telesis' financial divisions grew, supported by an aviation investment fund created alongside Wafra Capital Partners. The fund, named GA Telesis Aviation Investments (GAIN), raised $500 million by January 2014, with the two companies starting a second firm, named GA Telesis Aviation Investments 2 (GAIN 2), in August 2017, which would raise another $500 million.
By 2019, GA Telesis' total annual revenue topped $1 billion, with mid-2020 estimates predicting that GA Telesis would make $400 million during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, GA Telesis signed a three-year parts distribution agreement with Honeywell's aerospace division, Honeywell Aerospace Technologies, to serve as the exclusive global distributor for the CFM International CFM56-5B variable bleed screw, excluding mainland China. Consequently, the Flight Solutions Group created a new subsidiary dedicated to distribution, named the Distribution Solutions Group. GA Telesis' consignment with Honeywell Aerospace enabled both companies to access a larger supply of used components and material to further both firms' business. The partnership with Honeywell expanded in 2023 not only to extend the bleed screw exclusivity but also include exclusive global distribution rights for the Flex Shafts for the CFM56-5B. As part of the seven-year agreement, GATES' Helsinki facility would offer variable bleed screw upgrades to its engine customers. Another agreement with Honeywell in 2023 would make GA Telesis the global distributor of Honeywell's Finished Goods Inventory, leading to it being nominated by Honeywell as its 2023 Global Channel Partner of the Year.
In 2020, GA Telesis expanded GATES to include a Special Procedures AeroEngine Hospital, or SPAH, in Helsinki, which initially serviced engines used on the Airbus A320 family as well as the Boeing 737, 747, and 767. In 2021, GA Telesis announced a partnership with Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) to construct a SPAH, at Wilmington Air Park in Clinton County, Ohio. By 2024, the Wilmington SPAH received certification from the American FAA and the European Union's EASA.
The following year in 2021, GA Telesis and another aviation firm, Constant Aviation, filed a lawsuit against the technology company Salesforce for disclosing information without permission or knowledge. The two companies claimed in their filing that Salesforce's Master Subscription Agreement did not cover the purposes that Salesforce allegedly used their data for, arguing that Salesforce's use of their data constituted intellectual property infringement and violations of the Defend Trade Secrets Act.
GA Telesis was one of the many aviation lessors affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the subsequent sanctions imposed by Western countries on Russian firms. The company leased two Airbus A319s as well as their engines to Rossiya Airlines, which presently remain stranded in Russia. The Irish unit of GA Telesis filed suit against Rossiya and its parent company Aeroflot in 2022 with the two narrow body jets effectively stolen. However, in 2023, GA Telesis settled its claims by confirming that it had received compensation from Russian insurance firm NSK, though it did not disclose the amount. As a result, GA Telesis released NSK, Rossiya, and Rossiya's parent company Aeroflot from its claims on the two A319s and their engines.

## Structure

GA Telesis is split into five divisions: Flight Solutions Group (FSG), Leasing Investment Finance & Trading (LIFT), GA Telesis Engine Services (GATES), Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO), and Digital Innovation Group (DIG). The company's primary facilities are located between two buildings near Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, with a composite material repair shop on the west side and its primary headquarters and component solutions group on the south side. The company also has 14 facilities in US cities as well as 31 other facilities worldwide.
GA Telesis' LIFT division hosts multiple arms and units. Since 2017, the company has operated an arm named for and focused on structured credit products, which offers airlines an inventory lease of spare parts for a fixed monthly rent. Under the LIFT division, GA Telesis additionally operates HALO Air Finance, a joint venture with Tokyo Century Corporation and Inter-Vest Capital Partners. Formed in 2023, HALO's first major financing deal was a lease to Nauru Airlines of a Boeing 737-800 freighter converted from a former passenger aircraft. In 2024, HALO financed an investment vehicle managed by Crestone Air Partners and Atalaya Capital Management which would acquire two Airbus A320-200s.
GATES presently maintains two major facilities, its first located at Helsinki Airport at a former Finnair engine shop and its second at Wilmington Air Park in Ohio through a joint venture with Air Transport Services Group. By 2023, the Wilmington facility, which opened a Special Procedures Aero engine Hospital (SPAH), received its Part 145 certification.
The MRO division of GA Telesis specializes in component repair and carbon fiber composite aircraft shops, as well as a landing gear shop, which often detects and implements fixes for corrosion. The landing gear group has achieved 149 percent growth from its founding in 2019 to 2023, and accounted for over 20 percent of the MRO division's revenue. The division in 2021 also added a radome testing facility, and earlier a 37-foot autoclave to its composite repair facility.
GA Telesis' Digital Innovation Group oversees activities related to artificial intelligence, including the founding of Blockrails in 2022, a subscription service utilizing Blockchain technology for real estate transactions.

## Shareholders

Just over 40% of the company is held directly by Abdol Moabery.
GA Telesis' initial investment by Tokyo Century Corporation, a Japanese financial services company, was a 20% stake in the company. In 2018, All Nippon Airways and Tokyo Century acquired a 39% stake in GA Telesis, resulting in an increase of Tokyo Century's stake in the company to 49.2% and giving All Nippon Airways an initial stake to 10%. The stake that Tokyo Century and All Nippon Airways acquired was formerly owned by Bank of America through its subsidiary Global Principal Finance.

## Corporate governance

Since its founding, Abdol Moabery has held the title of President and CEO within the company. GA Telesis is organized under a limited liability company.
GA Telesis' divisions additionally hold their own presidents. To date, the Flight Solutions Group is led by Jim Sokol, LIFT by Marc Cho, the Engine Services facility in Helsinki by Gunnar Sigurfinnsson, and the MRO division by Pastor Lopez, with Jason Reed leading the Digital Innovation Group.