Specialist Advisory
Airline operating metrics on a glass instrument panelA cockpit-style panel where the avionics read airline operating metrics. A central attitude indicator shows unit economics, with breakeven as the horizon and the airframe held above the line at a positive margin, flanked by a load-factor gauge near 83 percent and an on-time gauge near 88 percent, over a live readout of yield, utilisation and capacity.OPERATING PANEL2010A0+2¢-2¢UNIT ECONOMICSRASK 7.8¢ · CASK 6.9¢ · spread +0.9¢83%LOAD FACTOR88%ON-TIMEYIELD+2.4%UTILISATION11.4 hCAPACITY14.2B ASK

Airlines expertise on-demand.

Think like an operator.

Airline economics are complex. Capacity, fleet, and network decisions don't read clearly from the outside. We help you unpack them and find the advantage others miss.

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Battleground experience

Tested through turbulence.

Leith Salem, Founder and Principal of 2010 Advisory

“Growth, crisis, recovery. I've lived all three inside aviation. Qantas at its peak. The COVID shutdown. Virgin Australia from administration to IPO.”

Leith Salem brings fifteen years across finance and aviation to 2010 Advisory, including more than twelve years in aviation. He led Virgin Australia's group strategy from administration to IPO, ran network planning for Qantas International across roughly US$5 billion of annual revenue, helped structure Telstra's US$2 billion Amplitel sale, and began in institutional equities at Goldman Sachs.

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US$5B
Network Revenue
Responsible for QF network decisions
15+
Years of Experience
Aviation, Finance & Infrastructure
2
Major Carriers
Qantas and Virgin Australia
  1. 2012-2015Goldman Sachs
    Analyst, Institutional Equities
    Handled daily equity transactions above US$300 million and served as the onshore contact for Hong Kong agency portfolio trading.
  2. 2015-2020Qantas International
    Manager, Network Planning
    Led capacity, fleet, and three-year network planning across roughly US$5 billion of annual revenue, including the COVID network response.
  3. 2020-2021Telstra InfraCo
    Senior Strategy Manager
    Helped structure the 49 percent sale of Telstra's towers business, Amplitel, for US$2 billion.
  4. 2021-2025Virgin Australia
    Head of Group Strategy
    Led corporate strategy from administration to the June 2025 ASX listing and a return to record profitability.
  5. 2025-2027INSEAD
    Global Executive MBA
    Global Executive MBA candidate and recipient of two scholarships.
Our approach

Our consulting principles.

Hypothesis first.

Arrive with a view. Analysis confirms or challenges it. Not the other way around. The conclusion comes first; the supporting evidence follows.

Diagnosed before approached.

No standard playbook. A diligence engagement, a restructuring situation, and a network strategy problem are three different kinds of work. Each gets the method it requires, not a pre-packaged one.

The work ends at a decision.

Analysis that produces no clear action is unfinished. The output is not a deck. It is a recommendation the client can act on the same week.

Depth over breadth.

Not aviation broadly. Specifically: airline network economics, fleet and capacity strategy, restructuring and IPO advisory, infrastructure capital transactions. The depth is what makes the advice useful.

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