Overview
- The companies unveiled Equator, a long-term platform to buy commercial jets and lease them to airlines, with a target of about $1.6 billion invested each year.
- DAE will source aircraft from third parties, and its Aircraft Investor Services unit will manage the assets owned by the platform.
- Blackstone Credit & Insurance will provide financing across the capital stack, with funds managed by ITE Management joining the investor group.
- DAE brings scale and servicing depth, reporting roughly 700 aircraft in its fleet, more than 100 under third‑party management valued at over $4 billion at year-end 2025, and 17 servicing agreements.
- The program aims to give airlines easier access to leased planes during tight new-jet supply while offering institutional investors exposure to aviation assets with lease-backed cash flows.