Specialist Advisory

Airlines expertise on-demand.

Think like an operator.

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

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.

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.

US$5B
Network Revenue
Responsible for QF network decisions
15+
Years of Experience
Aviation, Finance & Infrastructure
2
Major Carriers
Qantas and Virgin Australia
  1. 2019Peak
    Qantas network
    Grown to its largest international footprint.
  2. 2020Crisis
    COVID shutdown
    Managed the grounding of international flying.
  3. 2021Turnaround
    Virgin Australia
    Joined the post-administration restructuring.
  4. Jun 2025IPO
    ASX listing
    Led Virgin Australia strategy through to its public listing.
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.

Get in touch

Let's chat more.

Got a question? Shoot me a quick note to get started.