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Where could a commercial airline turn in an environment of growing Wall Street skepticism over the industry's future?

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Tom Quindlen

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Brainstorm : Wing Man

US Airways was struggling to stay airborne in heavy turbulence. Could GE Commercial Finance’s Tom Quindlen and his copilots help guide it to safety?

By: Gary Stern
Premiere Issue , Page 62

US Airways merged with America West in 2005, surviving bankruptcy and swerving clear of the oblivion several airlines — Eastern, TWA and Pan Am, among others — had failed to navigate. But by last March, the company needed a major influx of capital to grapple with $800 million–plus in federal debt that was turning it into a Spruce Goose.

Where could a commercial airline turn in an environment of growing Wall Street skepticism over the industry’s future? The company, based in Tempe, Arizona, was looking to consolidate and refinance two post-9/11 emergency loans from the Air Transportation Stabilization Board. US Airways was on the hook for $566 million; America West owed another $262 million.

A lengthy parade of bulge-bracket corporate-finance teams came by to offer their assistance — “It was a competitive process,” says US Airways CFO Derek Kerr — but one group in particular, GE Commercial Finance–Corporate Lending, had a plan that stood out for its creativity.

Tom Quindlen, the 43-year-old CEO of GE Corporate Lending, and his troops viewed the problem from a higher altitude. “We thought, ‘Well, what if we could refinance all of their existing debt, not just the ATSB loans?’ ” Quindlen recounts.

Eureka moments like that are common to Quindlen, who recently integrated three GE financial-services companies: corporate lending, commercial and industrial finance and structured finance. This year, the Norwalk, Connecticut–based division, consisting of 373 professionals, is on target to complete 400 deals, up 21 percent from 2005.

“Our specialty is providing complex project financing,” he says. For example, GE recently loaned SeverCorr $440 million to construct a new steel mill in Columbus, Mississippi. Pulling off a sophisticated “mini-mill” project (involving a partnership with a Russian steelmaker) amid stiff competition required acute industry knowledge.