Chief Executive Officer, President & Chairman of the Board, Aar
Search every verified John Holmes interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. During AAR's third quarter fiscal 2020 earnings call on December 1, 2020, Holmes reported record quarterly sales of $553 million, up 4% year-over-year, and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.67. He stated that the company had taken decisive action to exit one contract and restructure two others, resulting in a one-time charge of $24.7 million. Citing the effects of COVID-19 on the commercial airline market, Holmes announced the withdrawal of fiscal year 2020 guidance. He described steps the company was taking to align costs with decreasing demand, including a hiring freeze, reductions in executive compensation, furloughs, and workforce reductions. Holmes noted that he had been in direct contact with members of Congress and the administration regarding potential support for the broader aviation industry, emphasizing the need to preserve heavy maintenance capability and the skilled workforce in the United States. In a September 2019 podcast, Holmes discussed AAR's workforce development initiatives, including a partnership with Chicago city colleges to launch an aviation-focused transportation campus. He described AAR as the largest supplier of used airframe and engine parts globally and said the company had shifted from a subcontractor to a prime contractor on U.S. government contracts, applying commercial best practices to government offerings. Holmes stated that the company was positioning itself to support both existing fleets and next-generation aircraft as they mature, and that consolidation in the industry could create aftermarket support opportunities for AAR.
“AAR enters this uncertain period from a position of strength — we have a diverse business mix with approximately 35% of sales from government customers and meaningful commercial sales to cargo carriers. We also have a strong balance sheet with less than 1x net leverage, significant liquidity and strong customer relatio...”
“Proactively addressing the anticipated impact of COVID-19, we are taking steps to ensure costs remain aligned with decreasing demand — these steps include a hiring freeze, reducing or eliminating all non-essential spend, reducing executive compensation, furloughs and unfortunately reductions in our workforce.”
“I have been in direct contact with members of both the House and the Senate as well as the administration regarding potential support not just for the airlines but also for the broader aviation industry.”
“We announced plans to expand our airframe maintenance services with Air Canada to cover its A330 fleet, and Aero ctrl-x selected AAR to be its exclusive global distributor for the APU lube pump products line.”
“Turning to our results, we had a record third quarter — sales were up 4% from $530 million to $553 million and our adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations increased from $0.62 to $0.67 per share.”
“Given our focus and success in building and retaining a skilled workforce, we are particularly supportive of all government measures aimed at preserving jobs.”
“We believe there will be opportunities for AAR as capital constraints combined with low fuel prices will likely cause airlines to cancel orders for new aircraft and possibly extend the utilization of existing aircraft; there will be greater demand for used material and aftermarket parts and we, as the largest aftermark...”
“While we are pleased with our Q3 and year-to-date results, due to the effects of COVID-19 on the commercial airline market we believe it is prudent to withdraw fiscal year 2020 guidance at this time.”
“I joined AAR just before 9/11 and I've seen what this company can do in times of adversity — we are in an even better position today heading into this event and I'm confident that we will emerge even stronger.”
“We have taken decisive action to exit one contract and restructure two others to free up capital, improve cash flow and increase margins — these actions resulted in a one-time predominantly non-cash charge of $24.7 million.”
“We have been a participant on various programs as a subcontractor to some of the big primes like Northrop Grumman, and as a result of those roles we really learned how to do a lot of interesting things. We decided a few years ago to make the move from a subcontractor to a prime contractor, and we've been very successfu...”
“AAR is the largest supplier of used airframe and engine parts in the world, and if the United States Air Force bought like a United or Delta, there would be billions of dollars of savings by employing more used parts content in their engines and airframe builds.”
“Many companies that we compete against as prime contractors grew up as defense contractors in a cost-plus environment, whereas we came out of commercial aviation and are truly the only ones applying commercial best practices to government offerings.”
“The airlines are much more focused on longer-term agreements, three to five years, to lock up hangar slots so they know they have a home for an aircraft. This leads to better quality for the airline and better efficiency for us internally.”
“We can't compete dollar for dollar with the airlines and OEMs because many of them are unionized and offer flight benefits, but we compete by creating a great place to work with tuition assistance, flexible hours, and a healthy work environment.”
The macro-trends of society are making it increasingly difficult to build a skilled aviation workforce. John Holmes, CEO of AAR ...
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