Nicolas Finazzo

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer AerSale

Last Reviewed: September 25, 2026

Executive Summary

Nicolas Finazzo is co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AerSale, a Nasdaq-listed aviation aftermarket company based in Doral, Florida. AerSale looks after commercial aircraft in the second half of their working lives: it buys, leases and sells aircraft and engines, sells used serviceable parts, and runs maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations. He founded it in 2008 with Robert B. Nichols and has been Chairman and CEO for all but one year since. Before AerSale he co-founded and ran AeroTurbine, and earlier still he founded a Florida commuter airline, worked as an aviation lawyer, and qualified as an FAA airframe and powerplant mechanic.

Career Highlights

• Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AerSale since its founding in 2008, except for 2019, when he served as Executive Chairman; re-elected a director in June 2026.
• Also Division President, TechOps at AerSale since December 2019.
• Director of the listed AerSale Corporation since December 2020, when AerSale went public through a business combination with Monocle Acquisition Corporation.
• Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of AeroTurbine, Inc., a supplier of aircraft and engine products and MRO services, from 1997 to 2008.
• Vice President and General Counsel at AeroThrust in 1997 and at International Air Leases from 1991 to 1997, and Vice President of Contracts at Greenwich Air Services from 1987 to 1991.
• Founder and President of Southern Express Airways, a commuter airline operating mainly in Florida, from 1981 to 1987.
• Licensed to practise law in Florida and holds an FAA Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic license.

Professional Journey

Finazzo earned a Bachelor of Science in political science at the University of Michigan and a law degree at the University of Miami School of Law. His aviation career began in 1981, when he founded Southern Express Airways, a commuter airline flying mainly within Florida, and served as its President until 1987. AerSale’s own biography describes this period slightly differently, as a commercial aircraft leasing company that grew into the regional carrier Air Florida Commuter.

He then spent a decade on the legal and commercial side of the industry. He was Vice President of Contracts at Greenwich Air Services, an engine MRO provider, from 1987 to 1991. He then served as Vice President and General Counsel at International Air Leases, an aircraft leasing company whose portfolio of about 200 commercial aircraft he oversaw, according to AerSale. In 1997 he was briefly Vice President and General Counsel of AeroThrust, a parts supplier, MRO provider and engine lessor.

In 1997 he co-founded AeroTurbine, Inc. and became its CEO. AerSale describes AeroTurbine as the first aftermarket start-up not affiliated with a manufacturer to combine aircraft and engine sales, leasing, parts sales and MRO on one platform. The proxy dates his time as CEO to 2008; AerSale’s biography says he sold the business in 2006.

In 2008 he and his business partner Robert B. Nichols founded AerSale, and in early 2010 they brought in the private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners to finance its growth. Finazzo was Chairman and CEO from the start until January 2019. He was Executive Chairman during 2019, returned as Chairman and CEO in December 2019, and took on the role of Division President, TechOps at the same time. On 22 December 2020 AerSale went public through a business combination with Monocle Acquisition Corporation, a blank-check company, and he has been a director of the listed company since then. Nichols retired as Vice Chairman at the end of 2023 and remains on the board.

AerSale reported revenue of $335.3 million for 2025, down from $345.1 million in 2024. In the second quarter of 2026, revenue fell to $70.9 million from $107.4 million a year earlier because there were no Flight Equipment sales in the quarter. Finazzo said the results reflected “timing, not trajectory”. Stockholders re-elected him to the board at the June 2026 annual meeting.

Education

University of Michigan

Bachelor of Science, Political Science

University of Miami School of Law

Juris Doctor