International Lease Finance Corp

Insurance giant American International Group Inc. is in talks to sell a 90% stake in its Century City aircraft-leasing company to Chinese investors. AIG revealed in a statement Friday that talks to sell International Lease Finance Corp. were underway. The New York insurance company has been trying to unload the unit since 2008, when AIG nearly collapsed and was forced to go under government control. The leasing company, better known as ILFC, buys aircraft and rents them to airlines for a fixed period.

American International Group Inc. has tapped a former top Airbus official to take the helm of its Century City-based aircraft leasing business, which in recent months has been devastated by executive defections. The insurance giant said Wednesday that it had appointed Henri Courpron president and chief executive of International Lease Finance Corp., one of the world's largest aircraft leasing companies with a fleet of nearly 1,000 commercial jets. The appointment of the longtime Airbus executive was seen as a way to bring some stability to the business, which has been rocked by several-high profile resignations.

Major Boeing Order in Works: The Seattle-based aircraft maker is expected to announce today that it has won a major jetliner order from International Lease Finance Corp., a company spokesperson said. International Lease, a Beverly Hills-based unit of American International Group Inc. and the jet-leasing market leader, has been in negotiations with Boeing Co. since last fall. Industry analysts expect the company to order 40 to 50 jets, mostly newer-model 737s.

Big Jetliner Orders Seen from Leasing Firm: The European airplane consortium Airbus Industrie is expected next week to announce a $900-million sale of about 15 new Airbus jets to International Lease Finance Corp., a major aircraft lessor based in Beverly Hills. ILFC is also expected to order four 767 airliners from Boeing Co., valued at about $360 million.

There's a company in Beverly Hills that owns more than 50 commercial jets but has only three pilots on its payroll--and one is the president. It operates not a single hangar, leases not a solitary landing gate at any airport and, in 15 years, has sold not one ticket or served one in-flight meal. Is this any way to run an airline? Well, not really. But International Lease Finance Corp.

There was a time when buyers would have lined up for a chance to purchase one of the world's largest aircraft owners. But months after American International Group Inc. hung a "for sale" sign on its aircraft-leasing subsidiary International Lease Finance Corp., no deal has closed. AIG is trying to sell assets to repay the $60-billion federal loan that helped it avoid collapse this fall.

Since its near-collapse, American International Group Inc. has been selling all kinds of assets -- but it apparently doesn't want to part with its Century City-based aircraft leasing company. On Monday, the troubled insurance giant disclosed that it lent the unit, International Lease Finance Corp., $2 billion to pay off debt that was due last week. It marked the second time that AIG pumped federal bailout money into ILFC, signaling that AIG and the federal government want to keep the unit -- at least in the short term.

Steven Udvar-Hazy has been succeeded as chairman of International Lease Finance Corp., a move that analysts said eliminates a potential conflict of interest in his bid to buy back a portion of the aircraft leasing business that he co-founded and grew into one of the world's largest. Udvar-Hazy, who retains the title of chief executive, was quietly succeeded as chairman by Douglas Steenland, former president and chief executive of Northwest Airlines. ILFC did not announce the move, which took place last month.

A New York aviation services company has offered to buy International Lease Finance Corp. in Century City for more than $12 billion in a deal that would sever the aircraft leasing firm's ties to the nation's biggest government bailout. But ILFC parent company American International Group Inc., the insurance giant that received $182.5 billion in bailout money from the federal government, has refused to respond to or even comment on the offer. "We have support all over the country, but for some reason we can't get a response from AIG," said Robert Rose, president of Allied Aviation Services Inc., one of the nation's largest providers of fuel for commercial aircraft.

Since its near-collapse, American International Group Inc. has been selling all kinds of assets -- but it apparently doesn't want to part with its Century City-based aircraft leasing company. On Monday, the troubled insurance giant disclosed that it lent the unit, International Lease Finance Corp., $2 billion to pay off debt that was due last week. It marked the second time that AIG pumped federal bailout money into ILFC, signaling that AIG and the federal government want to keep the unit -- at least in the short term.

If you've flown on a commercial airliner over the last two decades, there's a good chance you were in a plane leased from Steven Udvar-Hazy. The Hungarian refugee, who came to America as a child in 1958 with little more than a love for aviation, is now one of the richest men in Los Angeles. He amassed his estimated $2.2-billion fortune by building up a global aircraft-leasing empire and selling it in 1990 to insurance giant American International Group Inc. But now Udvar-Hazy, who was allowed to keep running the business under AIG, wants part or all of the company back.

There was a time when buyers would have lined up for a chance to purchase one of the world's largest aircraft owners. But months after American International Group Inc. hung a "for sale" sign on its aircraft-leasing subsidiary International Lease Finance Corp., no deal has closed. AIG is trying to sell assets to repay the $60-billion federal loan that helped it avoid collapse this fall.

International Lease Finance Corp., the airplane-leasing company owned by American International Group Inc., said it was borrowing $6.5 billion in emergency funding, the maximum amount allowed under its three credit lines. The cash, coupled with revenue from operating activities, will be "sufficient to meet its debt obligations into the first quarter of 2009," the Los Angeles-based company said in a regulatory filing.

A New York aviation services company has offered to buy International Lease Finance Corp. in Century City for more than $12 billion in a deal that would sever the aircraft leasing firm's ties to the nation's biggest government bailout. But ILFC parent company American International Group Inc., the insurance giant that received $182.5 billion in bailout money from the federal government, has refused to respond to or even comment on the offer. "We have support all over the country, but for some reason we can't get a response from AIG," said Robert Rose, president of Allied Aviation Services Inc., one of the nation's largest providers of fuel for commercial aircraft.

International Lease Finance Corp., the world's biggest aircraft lessor, said it may order 300 jetliners from Boeing Co. and Airbus to meet demand from airlines that can no longer afford to buy their own planes. ILFC, a Century City unit of American International Group Inc., said it might purchase 150 single-aisle aircraft from each manufacturer.

Boeing Co. has to make design changes to its 787 Dreamliner that may further delay the plane's entry into service, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said, citing International Lease Finance Corp., the new model's biggest customer. ILFC Chairman Steven Udvar-Hazy told a JPMorgan conference that the state of the 787 program was "not pretty" and that he didn't expect the first plane to be handed over until the third quarter of next year, said Joseph B. Nadol, an analyst at the bank.