Our Team
We pride ourselves on having a culture that we believe is distinctly different from many private investment firms – one that prizes authenticity, creativity, collaboration and confidentiality.

Aviation Marketing, Trading & Legal
Ben Andrews
Aviation Counsel, Aviation LegalChris Buckley
Partner, Aviation Chief Marketing OfficerJeanette Delehanty
Aviation General Counsel, Aviation LegalNeil McCrossan
Head of Trading, AviationSankalp Garg
Head of APAC Aviation CommercialMichael Hackett
Senior VP Aircraft MarketingChris Pelly
Senior VP Aircraft MarketingKate Pierse
Senior VP Aircraft MarketingGraeme Dodd
VP Trading, AviationDrew Ayotte
VP Trading, AviationStephen Flynn
VP Aircraft Marketing & TradingBen Godsell
Managing Counsel, Aviation LegalDaniel Lazzari
Head of Americas, Aviation CommercialBen Andrews
Mr. Andrews joined Castlelake in 2021 as part of the Aviation Legal team, focused on managing aviation leasing, trading and financing transactions. Prior to joining Castlelake, Mr. Andrews was with Milbank LLP in London as an associate attorney in the firm’s Transportation and Space group, where he focused on advising lessors, lenders, equity participants and airlines on a wide range of leasing, debt financing, capital markets and trading transactions in the aviation sector. Mr. Andrews received his Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Exeter. Mr. Andrews is admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in England and Wales (active).

Chris Buckley
Mr. Buckley joined Castlelake in 2015 and is head of its Aviation Marketing team. He is primarily focused on leading the origination of aviation investment opportunities globally. He became a partner of the firm in 2021. Prior to joining Castlelake, Mr. Buckley spent five years at Danish Air Transport. In this role, he served as vice president of business development, where he was responsible for the airline’s wet and dry leasing, as well as aircraft acquisition and sales. Prior to 2010, Mr. Buckley worked for Hunt and Palmer, a global aircraft charter company, where he completed placements in Paris, Hong Kong, Australia and London. While at Hunt and Palmer, he specialized in aircraft charter brokering on executive and commercial aircraft, as well as aircraft sales and leasing, managing relationships with clients and airlines on all levels internationally. Mr. Buckley received his B.A. in business economics from the University of Exeter.
Jeanette Delehanty
Ms. Delehanty joined Castlelake in 2020 and is head of the Aviation Legal team, focused on managing aviation leasing and trading transactions, and other legal activities. Prior to joining Castlelake, Ms. Delehanty was Head of Transaction Negotiation with CDB Aviation, where she focused on negotiation of aviation leasing and trading transactions. Ms. Delehanty received her Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Dublin, Trinity College. Ms. Delehanty is admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in England & Wales and the Roll of Solicitors in Ireland (active).
Neil McCrossan
Mr. McCrossan joined Castlelake in 2014 and is head of the Aviation Trading team, focused on managing our global aircraft and engine trading activity. Prior to joining Castlelake, Mr. McCrossan managed GE Capital Aviation Services’ lease engine portfolio where he served as the marketing team’s global business lead for commercial decisions around their lease pool including forecasting, acquisitions, disposals and pricing. Prior to GE Capital Aviation Services, Mr. McCrossan served as a sales director at AAR Corporation where he covered the majority of European accounts for AAR’s supply chain and engine trading activity. Mr. McCrossan received his B.S. from Northampton University in psychology.
Sankalp Garg
Mr. Garg joined Castlelake in 2018 and is part of the Aviation Marketing team, focused on aircraft marketing and business development in the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to joining Castlelake, Sankalp was with Avation in Singapore where his responsibilities included aircraft leasing, origination, lessee management and trading activity across markets. Before joining Avation, Mr. Garg was with Aircastle. Mr. Garg is a science graduate with honors in mathematics and qualified in finance from Harvard Business School in the U.S. He is conversational in French.
Michael Hackett
Mr. Hackett joined Castlelake in 2016 and is part of the Aviation Marketing team, focused on investment origination, aircraft and engine remarketing and commercial account management. Prior to joining Castlelake, Mr. Hackett was with AerSale, where he focused on building new customer relationships, analyzing and pricing strategic listings for both sales, and purchasing of material. Prior to AerSale, Mr. Hackett was with GECAS, where he focused on data analytics and reporting. Mr. Hackett received his B.A. from the Limerick Institute of Technology in business studies.
Chris Pelly
Mr. Pelly joined Castlelake in 2016 and is part of the Aviation Marketing team, focused on aircraft remarketing and business development. Specifically, he concentrates on opportunities in Asia and Eastern Europe. Prior to joining Castlelake, Mr. Pelly was with AeroTurbine, a wholly owned subsidiary of AerCap group as a vice president of sales. Based in Singapore and London, he was responsible for all engine leasing and trading activity for the company’s Asian and European markets. Before joining AeroTurbine, Mr. Pelly held roles at TES Aviation Group as a senior vice president in the commercial group, responsible for a global portfolio of leased aircraft engines, and as a market analyst for Rolls-Royce PLC. Mr. Pelly received his M.S. in project management from Manchester University and bachelor’s degrees in engineering and business management from the University of Birmingham.
Kate Pierse
Ms. Pierse joined Castlelake in 2019 and is part of the Aviation Marketing team, focused on aircraft marketing and business development. Prior to Castlelake, Ms. Pierse was with Aircastle, where she focused on remarketing of aircraft and origination of airline investment opportunities. Prior to Aircastle, Ms. Pierse was with Avolon, where she focused on various finance and accounting roles and a business analyst role with an emphasis on the analysis and assessment of all aircraft transactions. She received her bachelor’s degree in international commerce from University College Dublin. Ms. Pierse is a member of the Association of Chartered Accountants of Ireland.
Graeme Dodd
Mr. Dodd joined Castlelake in 2019 and is part of the Aviation Trading team, focused on trading aircraft and engines with counterparties in the EMEA region. Prior to joining Castlelake, Mr. Dodd was with TS&S Aerospace (part of Mubadala Aerospace Group) in Abu Dhabi, where he focused on developing new relationships with key airline accounts globally. Before TS&S, Mr. Dodd was with Rolls-Royce as a Sales Director, where he focused on selling Trent engines with TotalCare contracts to airlines in Asia-Pacific and greater China regions. Mr. Dodd received his M.Eng. from the University of Glasgow in mechanical engineering, with honors and a major in aeronautics.
Drew Ayotte
Mr. Ayotte joined Castlelake in 2015 as part of the Aviation Underwriting team, where he has since joined the Aviation Trading team. Prior to joining Castlelake, Mr. Ayotte was with Piper Jaffray’s consumer investment banking group, where he focused on consumer retail mergers and acquisitions and equity offerings. Mr. Ayotte received his B.S. from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College in finance and marketing, magna cum laude.
Stephen Flynn
Mr. Flynn joined Castlelake in 2019 and is part of the Aviation Marketing and Trading team, focused on aircraft marketing and business development along with aircraft and engine trading.Prior to joining Castlelake, Mr. Flynn was with GECAS Singapore, where he served as Commercial Manager on the helicopter finance and leasing team. In this role, he focused on business development, aircraft leasing and lessee management across North and South Asia Pacific. Mr. Flynn received his B.A. in economics and politics from University College Dublin, Ireland and a master’s degree in management from the Michael Smurfit Business School, Ireland. Mr. Flynn also holds a certificate in aviation leasing and finance from the Law Society of Ireland.
Ben Godsell
Mr. Godsell joined Castlelake in 2020 and is part of the Aviation Legal team, focused on managing aviation leasing and trading transactions and other legal activities. Prior to joining Castlelake, Mr. Godsell was an associate attorney in the Transportation and Space group at Milbank LLP in London, where he was focused on negotiating aviation leasing, financing and trading transactions. Mr. Godsell received his Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Exeter. Mr. Godsell is admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in England and Wales (active).
Daniel Lazzari
Mr. Lazzari joined Castlelake in 2023 as part of the Aviation Commercial team, focused on aviation investments, relationship management in the Americas and managing Castlelake’s existing portfolio of assets in the region. Prior to joining Castlelake, he was with Airbus Americas, most recently as vice president of sales within the commercial aircraft division, where he focused on managing the relationship with North American airlines and selling aircraft. Prior to that role, he served as sales director, contracts director and airline marketing director with Airbus Americas and cabin marketing manager at Airbus S.A.S in Toulouse, France. Mr. Lazzari received his master’s degree in engineering from University of Surrey, with honors. He is fluent in French and Italian, as well as conversational in Spanish.