Leadership

Executive Office

Executive Office

Yasu Kusakari

Chairman

Kevin McDonald

Chief Executive Officer

Masafumi Hirai

Executive Vice President, Office of Chairman

Ryan Opeka

Chief Operating and Legal Officer

David Jones

Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer

Gemma Loder

Executive Vice President, Head of Capital Markets

David Crull

Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Aidan Reynolds

Executive Vice President, Chief Technical Officer

Sruti Prakash

Executive Vice President, General Counsel

Shannon Ackert

Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations

Jack Diskin

Senior Vice President, Head of Risk

David Farrell

Senior Vice President, Head of Engineering and Procurement

Michael Hazelton

Head of Aircraft Trading

Melvin Kelly

Senior Vice President, Technical

Dawn Kimball

Senior Vice President & Head of Human Resources

Daniel McGrath

Head of EMEA Marketing

Jonathan Ray Santos

Senior Vice President, Information Systems, Technology and Governance

John Yanney

Head of Americas Marketing & OEM Relations
LinkedIn

Yasu Kusakari

Chairman

Yasuyuki (Yasu) Kusakari is Chairman of Jackson Square Aviation (JSA). In addition, he is Managing Executive Officer of Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc. and Global Head of Mitsubishi HC Capital’s Aviation Business Division. He had previously been Senior Corporate Officer and General Manager of the Aviation Business Department at Mitsubishi HC Capital from April 2023.

Yasu has 30 years’ experience of structured finance in MUFG Bank, with managerial roles on both the business side and credit. Yasu had been the Head of Australian Structured Finance, leading project financing Advisory and lending teams in Sydney & Melbourne from 2015 to 2018. He was Global Head of Credit, Investment Banking Credit Division from 2018 to 2020, responsible for global portfolio of project financing, aviation & ship finance, securitization, LBOs and other investment banking products of MUFG Bank.

Yasu joined Mitsubishi HC Capital in May 2020 as General Manager in the International Credit Department, overseeing Mitsubishi HC Capital’s global portfolio including aviation assets of JSA and Engine Lease Finance.

Yasu holds a Masters Degree in Finance from the London Business School and a Bachelor of Economics from The University of Tokyo.

Kevin McDonald

Chief Executive Officer

Kevin McDonald serves as Chief Executive Officer for Jackson Square Aviation (JSA), based in San Francisco. He also sits on the Company’s Board of Directors. Kevin and Chris Dailey jointly oversee the Company’s strategic vision and business development. Kevin maintains primary responsibility for the Company’s Capital Markets, Legal, Risk Management, Technical Services and Operations Departments. Prior to taking the CEO position on January 1, 2019 he served as JSA’s Executive Vice President, Capital Markets and Chief Investment Officer. He has been with JSA since inception in 2010 and was involved in all areas of the company’s formation, its rapid development and subsequent sale to Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc. in 2013, and its integration and growth thereafter.

Kevin had joined Pegasus Aviation in 2002 and helped launch Pegasus Aviation Finance Company in 2004, which built a world-class fleet of over 130 aircraft before its sale to AWAS in 2007. Prior to his time at Pegasus, Kevin was an investment banker covering lessors and other financial institutions at the New York offices of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and Credit Suisse.

He has a B.A. (Economics) from Columbia University.

Masafumi Hirai

Executive Vice President, Office of Chairman

Masafumi Hirai serves as Executive Vice President for Jackson Square Aviation (JSA) and is based in San Francisco.

He also sits on the Company’s Board of Directors. Masafumi works closely with JSA’s shareholder Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc. to formulate and implement the annual and medium-term business plan and oversees business operations from individual transactions to overall risk management in line with Mitsubishi HC Capital’s strategy.

Masafumi started his career with Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Company Limited in 1998 and then joined Moody’s Japan K.K in 2006 as the rating analyst in the structure finance group.

In August 2013, he joined Mitsubishi HC Capital as Chief Assistant Manager in the International Credit Department and engaged in credit screening/monitoring for aircraft and aircraft engine operating lease transactions, establishing and updating credit management operations framework/rules. After 10 years, Masafumi was moved to the Aviation Business Department as Deputy General Manager and Section Manager of the Business Planning & Development Section, where he assisted the General Manager in directing and managing the operation of the Department. He was also responsible for overseeing the Section operations, including developing the Department’s budget, business strategies and plans, and identifying and developing new business segment. Masafumi has extensive experience and knowledge in risk management and the aviation business.

Ryan Opeka

Chief Operating and Legal Officer

Ryan Opeka currently serves as Chief Operating and Legal Officer of Jackson Square Aviation (JSA), responsible for coordinating the company’s legal, administrative and operating functions, including sustainability and environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) initiatives and technology improvements. He is chairperson of JSA’s Sustainability Committee, which has responsibility for calculating JSA’s carbon emissions, mitigating JSA’s impact on the environment and identifying opportunities for JSA to participate in the de-carbonization of aviation. Ryan was previously General Counsel at JSA and has extensive experience negotiating and documenting complex commercial and finance agreements, including aircraft leases with major airlines worldwide. He has also acted as the commercial leader for JSA on a number of in-court and out of court airline customer restructurings. Prior to joining JSA, he served as Vice President and Counsel with Macquarie AirFinance in San Francisco. Ryan began his career in aviation as an Attorney in the Global Transportation Finance group of the law firm Vedder Price in Chicago.

David Jones

Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer

David Jones is Chief Marketing Officer at Jackson Square Aviation (JSA), based in San Francisco. In this role, he leads JSA’s global Marketing and OEM Relations teams, overseeing customer engagement, brand strategy, and commercial alignment across all regions.

Prior to joining JSA in 2019, David served as Executive Director in Structured Finance for Standard Chartered and has been based in Asia since 2009 following reassignment from the UK to Singapore with AerCap Pte Ltd.  He has also worked for General Electric Aircraft Engine Services, Wales initially completing an apprenticeship as an aircraft engine mechanic and later in his career as a Powerplant Engineer.  David holds a BEng (hons) in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Wales, Cardiff and an MSc Finance from University College, Dublin.

Gemma Loder

Executive Vice President, Head of Capital Markets

Gemma Loder serves as Executive Vice President, Head of Capital Markets for Jackson Square Aviation (JSA). Gemma leads the Capital Markets group and is based in San Francisco.

Gemma manages the Portfolio Management team responsible for transaction analysis, market evaluation and reporting, and the Treasury function, which executes JSA’s funding strategy. She serves as primary contact for lenders and investors, and hedging matters. Prior to joining JSA, Gemma led the Corporate Finance team at Macquarie AirFinance in San Francisco and previously worked in Transportation Finance at Macquarie Group in Sydney. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

David Crull

Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

David Crull serves as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Jackson Square Aviation (JSA).  David manages the firms accounting, internal control, financial reporting, and financial planning and analysis functions and is based in San Francisco.  Prior to joining JSA, David served as the Chief Financial Officer of both Aero Capital Solutions and AeroTurbine. David has also held senior financial leadership roles at Spirit Airlines and began his career in the maintenance and engineering departments of American and Delta Airlines.

He holds and MBA from University of Dallas, a BS from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and is a former US Marine.

Aidan Reynolds

Executive Vice President, Chief Technical Officer

Aidan Reynolds serves as Chief Technical Officer and Executive Vice President of Jackson Square Aviation (JSA). Aidan has extensive aviation experience having spent over 37 years working in wide variety of roles in engine shops, aircraft maintenance, leasing and trading companies.

Prior to joining JSA, Aidan worked for Macquarie Aviation Capital as Head of Technical for the previous 6 years. Prior to this, Aidan served as Director of Operations, Europe, Middle East and Africa for Pratt & Whitney for 5 years, where he was responsible for all after market purchasing and sales of engines and engine parts within the region. Prior to Pratt & Whitney, Aidan worked for Aviation Sales Company for 5 years as Vice President, Europe, Middle East and Africa with responsibility for all sales and marketing activity.

Aidan also worked at Monarch Aircraft Engineering for 10 years where he held a number of roles within the aircraft maintenance and production department and ultimately as Workshop Manager. Before this he worked overhauling aircraft engines in Lufthansa Airmotive Ireland for 5 years.

Sruti Prakash

Executive Vice President, General Counsel

Sruti Prakash serves as Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Jackson Square Aviation (JSA). Sruti is an experienced Attorney responsible for transaction execution, including leasing, trading and financing.  She works extensively with airframe and engine manufacturers as well.  Prior to joining JSA, Sruti worked at law firms in New York, Mumbai and Bangalore and as a Contract Attorney at a large leasing company.

Shannon Ackert

Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations

Shannon Ackert serves as SVP Commercial Operations of Jackson Square Aviation (JSA). Shannon is responsible for its commercial activities, including contract negotiation and aircraft market & economic research. He started his aviation career as a flight test engineer for McDonnell Douglas, working on the MD-87/88 certification programs. Later, he worked for United Airlines as a System Engineer in the airlines 757/767 engineering organization. Shannon has published numerous research reports on aircraft maintenance economics and is a frequent guest speaker at aviation conferences. Prior to joining JSA, he served as Vice President with Macquarie AirFinance in San Francisco. Shannon holds a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and an MBA from the University of San Francisco.

Jack Diskin

Senior Vice President, Head of Risk

Jack Diskin is Head of Risk for Jackson Square Aviation (JSA) and is based in Dublin. He leads the global risk team which has a primary focus on credit and jurisdictional risk, while also contributing to JSA’s portfolio management and asset risk strategies.

Jack joined JSA in 2023, initially covering the EMEA region, before becoming Head of Risk in 2024. Prior to this, he worked on Avolon’s counterparty risk team for six years, with coverage responsibilities for both Asia Pacific and the Americas during his tenure. Jack began his career in Goodbody Capital Markets as an equity analyst covering European airlines.
Jack is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin with a degree in Economics.

David Farrell

Senior Vice President, Head of Engineering and Procurement

David Farrell serves as Senior Vice President, Head of Engineering and Procurement at Jackson Square Aviation (JSA). David has over 23 years’ experience in aviation and during these years has worked on all types of Boeing and Airbus commercial aircraft built in the last 20 years.

David started his career in aviation as an Apprentice Aircraft Engineer at Aer Lingus in 1998 and completed his apprenticeship with an EASA B2 Aircraft Engineers license.
Prior to joining JSA, David held positions as Manager of Technical Services at flydubai for 6 years and Technical Services Engineer at flyglobespan for 5 Years. He also ran a modification company installing Avionic modifications on various Boeing and Airbus aircraft throughout Europe.

Since the beginning of his career, David has gained a detailed knowledge and understanding of all airspace mandates, aircraft systems, avionics systems and had been heavily involved in various aircraft build selections and lease negotiations.

Michael Hazelton

Head of Aircraft Trading

Michael Hazelton serves as Senior Vice President & Head of Aircraft Trading for Jackson Square Aviation (JSA). Michael joined JSA in 2011 and was originally responsible for airline marketing in Asia before joining the Aircraft Trading team in 2019.

Michael has over 20 years experience in aviation leasing and asset finance having worked in multiple countries around the world.  Michael received his B.S.B.A. from Georgetown University.

Melvin Kelly

Senior Vice President, Technical

Melvin Kelly serves as Senior Vice President Technical at Jackson Square Aviation (JSA). Melvin has responsibility for the regional technical teams and provides technical input to leases at transaction level. Starting his career as an apprentice in the Irish Army Air Corps in 1994 Melvin has gained 30 years experience working with Airlines, MRO’s and Lessors.

Prior to joining JSA, Melvin spent 8 years with Avolon and 5 years with Nordic Aviation Capital in front of house roles negotiating leases, supporting new aircraft deliveries and transitioning aircraft between operators.

Melvin has also worked for Vueling Airlines, Lufthansa Technik and Team Aer Lingus. Melvin has worked on a variety of Airbus and Boeing Aircraft throughout his career and holds an EASA Part 66 B1 and C Aircraft Engineers Licence.

Since the beginning of his career Melvin has gained a detailed understanding of aircraft maintenance, airline operations and aircraft leasing, from the perspective of both the Lessor and the Airline.

Dawn Kimball

Senior Vice President & Head of Human Resources

Dawn Kimball serves as the Senior Vice President & Head of Human Resources for Jackson Square Aviation.  In this role, Dawn is responsible for leading JSA’s overall human resources strategy, global talent acquisition, leadership development, DEIB, employee education and development, employee engagement, culture initiatives, and HR operations.

 

As a human resources executive with over 20 years of consulting and operational experience Dawn’s prior experience includes leading large scale HR initiatives for Landec, Charles Schwab & Co. and Williams-Sonoma, Inc.

 

Daniel McGrath

Head of EMEA Marketing

Daniel McGrath is Head of EMEA Marketing for Jackson Square Aviation (JSA), and is based in Dublin, Ireland. Daniel leads the Marketing team responsible for origination and customer commercial relationships for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Daniel has 25 years of broad aviation experience, having worked for European airlines in flight operation control centers, and as an official in Eurocontrol’s Network Manager Operations Center.  He joined the Dublin based lessor, Aergo Capital, after completion of the University College Dublin (Smurfit) MBA. In 2012, he joined Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc., formerly Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance (MUL), as the Vice President of Marketing, and subsequently joined the JSA team at the time of MHC’s acquisition of JSA in 2013.

Jonathan Ray Santos

Senior Vice President, Information Systems, Technology and Governance

Jonathan Ray Santos serves as Senior Vice President of Jackson Square Aviation (JSA). Since 2013, Jonathan and his team have had the responsibility of developing Information Systems internal controls, managing, and directing global IT mandates, and revamping operational IT infrastructure. Jonathan brings with him the experiences of over 25 years in the information technology industry and over 15 years of JSOX compliance. Previous leadership roles at Takeda San Francisco and XOMA along with his current position with JSA have given him a generalist range of information security, governance, and operational expertise.

John Yanney

Head of Americas Marketing & OEM Relations

John Yanney serves as Head of the Americas Marketing and OEM Relations and has been with Jackson Square Aviation (JSA) since 2011. John’s responsibilities include managing the Americas region origination, portfolio management strategy and customer relations, in addition to being responsible for JSA’s relationships with Boeing and Airbus.

Prior to joining JSA, he began his professional career with Morgan Stanley and Colony Capital working in their Investment Banking and Real Estate Private Equity Divisions. John received his B.S. in Business Administration (Corporate Finance) from the University of Southern California and holds a private pilot license.