Clarifies No Aircraft on Lease to Swissair or Crossair
CHICAGO, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- GATX Capital announced today that it has
reached an agreement with Flightlease, a Swissair Group Company, for the
separation of an order for 38 Airbus aircraft originally placed by a joint
venture company, GATX Flightlease Aircraft Company, Ltd. As previously
announced, the GATX Flightlease joint venture is being terminated.
GATX Capital also clarified today that it does not have any aircraft on
lease to Swissair or Crossair, and therefore it expects no material impact
from the reorganization of Swissair.
GATX Capital also announced that Airbus Industrie has released GATX
Capital from any further obligations with respect to its 50% guarantee of the
original GATX Flightlease order. As part of this arrangement, GATX Capital
has agreed with Airbus to confirm its portion of the original order with a
separate agreement to purchase 19 A320 family aircraft from Airbus, with
deliveries scheduled over the next four years. These aircraft have already
been incorporated into aircraft delivery schedules previously disclosed by
GATX Corporation.
Alan C. Coe, executive vice president of GATX Air, stated, "We are very
pleased to have finalized this agreement. Despite current market conditions,
we expect that the airline industry will recover and continue on its growth
path. Importantly, the A320 family of aircraft is a cornerstone of the air
transportation industry. We have had great success with these aircraft due to
their wide acceptance among our diverse, international customer base. Our
existing fleet of A320 aircraft continues to maintain very high utilization,
and we are anticipating continued success with this class of aircraft.
"GATX Capital's fleet is composed primarily of newer, stage III,
narrow-body aircraft, the 'workhorses' of the airline industry. Newer
narrow-body aircraft have maintained high utilization through past airline
industry cycles, and we expect that this type of aircraft will continue to
show resiliency."
CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS
GATX Corporation plans to host an informational call TODAY regarding its
aircraft leasing operations. The company will discuss a range of information
including the composition of the air portfolio, renewal and delivery
schedules, and risk mitigants. Brian A. Kenney, Chief Financial Officer, will
host the call. Details are as follows:
Air-Related Informational Call
Date: Wednesday, October 10
Time: 3:00 PM Central Time
Dial-In Number: 1-800-230-1059
A slide presentation covering the discussion points will be available at
http://www.gatx.com immediately prior to the start of the conference call. Please
dial into the call 15 minutes prior to the start time.
Please note that this call will focus on the aircraft leasing operations
and will not cover third quarter results or full year expectations. This
information will be covered on the regularly scheduled earnings conference
call, details of which follow:
Earnings Conference Call
Date: Thursday, October 23
Time: 2:00 PM Central
Dial-In Number: 1-888-273-9887
Please dial in 15 minutes prior to start time.
COMPANY DESCRIPTION
GATX Air and GATX Capital are units of GATX Financial Corporation, a
subsidiary of GATX Corporation (NYSE: GMT). GATX is a specialized finance and
leasing company. GATX uniquely combines asset knowledge and services,
structuring expertise, creative partnering and risk capital to provide
business solutions to customers and partners worldwide. In addition to
aircraft operating leasing, GATX specializes in railcar and locomotive
leasing, aircraft operating leasing, information technology leasing, venture
finance and diversified finance.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release includes statements that may constitute forward-looking
statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This information may involve risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
the forward-looking statements. Although the company believes that the
expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on
reasonable assumptions, such statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties, including the long- and short-term effects resulting from the
events of September 11, 2001, that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those projected.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Analysts and Investors
Robert C. Lyons
GATX Corporation
312-621-6633
Media
George S. Lowman
GATX Corporation
312-621-6599
Investor, corporate information and press releases may be found at
http://www.gatx.com . A variety of current financial information, historical
financial information, press releases and photographs are available at this
site. GATX press releases may be obtained by accessing PR Newswire's Company
News On-Call's automated fax service at 800-758-5804. The company
identification number for GATX is 105121.
SOURCE GATX Corporation
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.gatx.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/gh/cnoc/comp/105121.html
CONTACT:
Analysts and Investors, Robert C. Lyons,
+1-312-621-6633, or Media, George S. Lowman, +1-312-621-6599,
both of GATX Corporation
|
