Key Takeaways
- • AE Industrial Partners, a Boca Raton-based private investment firm with approximately $9.4 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2026, has hired Michael Calderone as Managing Director on its Aerospace Leasing team.
- • Calderone will be responsible for managing and originating finance and leasing transactions across the business and special mission aviation segments.
- • Calderone brings more than 30 years of experience, including prior roles as Regional Vice President at Bombardier Defense and Director of Business Development for Special Mission Aircraft at L3 Technologies.
- • Nathan Dickstein, Partner and Head of Aerospace Leasing, said Calderone's perspective across government operations, defense prime program management and OEM aircraft sales will help the platform originate new opportunities.
- • The AE Industrial Aerospace Leasing platform, established in 2020, pursues asset-backed strategies across commercial, business and special mission aviation assets designed to produce income and capital appreciation.
Summary
AE Industrial Partners, LP ("AE Industrial"), a private investment firm focused on technologies and services considered critical to national and economic security, announced through a Business Wire release that Michael Calderone has joined its Aerospace Leasing team as a Managing Director. In this role, Calderone will manage and originate finance and leasing transactions across the business and special mission aviation segments.
Calderone joins the firm with more than 30 years of experience across global aerospace companies and military service. He previously served as Regional Vice President at Bombardier Defense and as Director of Business Development for Special Mission Aircraft at L3 Technologies. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Coast Guard, where he served as Military Aide to the Secretary of Homeland Security and as a Fleet Modernization and Sustainment Program Manager. He is also a rated rotary- and fixed-wing test pilot with more than 5,000 flight hours. He holds a BS in Business Management from the Florida Institute of Technology, an MS in Management from Troy University and an MBA from North Central University.
Nathan Dickstein, Partner and Head of Aerospace Leasing at AE Industrial, said Calderone has viewed these transactions from operations for the government, program management for defense primes and aircraft sales at the OEM level, and that this perspective will help the firm originate new opportunities across business and special mission aviation assets.
The AE Industrial Aerospace Leasing platform, established in 2020, invests in asset-backed opportunities across commercial, business and special mission aerospace sectors, with the aim of producing income and capital appreciation for investors. The platform has partnered with operators in developed and emerging markets, business aviation solution providers and specialized mission-specific aircraft operators, and offers bespoke leasing solutions to airlines, corporates and government entities through operating and finance leases.
AE Industrial Partners, headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida with an office in Washington, D.C., invests across private equity, venture capital and aerospace leasing. Since 2015, the firm has completed more than 155 investments in companies across national security, aerospace and industrial services.
Calderone joins the firm with more than 30 years of experience across global aerospace companies and military service. He previously served as Regional Vice President at Bombardier Defense and as Director of Business Development for Special Mission Aircraft at L3 Technologies. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Coast Guard, where he served as Military Aide to the Secretary of Homeland Security and as a Fleet Modernization and Sustainment Program Manager. He is also a rated rotary- and fixed-wing test pilot with more than 5,000 flight hours. He holds a BS in Business Management from the Florida Institute of Technology, an MS in Management from Troy University and an MBA from North Central University.
Nathan Dickstein, Partner and Head of Aerospace Leasing at AE Industrial, said Calderone has viewed these transactions from operations for the government, program management for defense primes and aircraft sales at the OEM level, and that this perspective will help the firm originate new opportunities across business and special mission aviation assets.
The AE Industrial Aerospace Leasing platform, established in 2020, invests in asset-backed opportunities across commercial, business and special mission aerospace sectors, with the aim of producing income and capital appreciation for investors. The platform has partnered with operators in developed and emerging markets, business aviation solution providers and specialized mission-specific aircraft operators, and offers bespoke leasing solutions to airlines, corporates and government entities through operating and finance leases.
AE Industrial Partners, headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida with an office in Washington, D.C., invests across private equity, venture capital and aerospace leasing. Since 2015, the firm has completed more than 155 investments in companies across national security, aerospace and industrial services.
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