About David
David Walfisch has more than 15 years of global experience leading comprehensive strategic projects for companies in the aviation and aerospace industries. Mr. Walfisch has wide-ranging industry expertise across commercial strategy, sustainability, cost reduction, industry forecast and due diligence.
Mr. Walfisch has led fleet and network optimization for legacy and low-cost carriers across the Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America regions. As part of his fleet optimization experience, he has identified optimal acquisition and fleet mix scenarios to support airlines’ go-to-market strategy. Mr. Walfisch’s acquisition support experience includes financial modeling, aircraft performance analysis, fleet cost diagnostics, maintenance cost review and crew impact, among other services.
In addition to his strategy expertise, Mr. Walfisch has deep experience in spearheading sustainability initiatives within the aviation and broader travel sectors. He has worked closely on collaborative studies with industry partners, including the World Economic Forum, the World Travel & Tourism Council and the Aerospace Industries Association. Additionally, Mr. Walfisch served as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCCC”) High-Level Climate Champions Aviation Sector Co-Lead leading up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (“COP26”).
Prior to FTI Consulting, Mr. Walfisch held strategic consulting roles at Accenture Travel and Seabury Consulting. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in aerospace engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Relevant Experience:
- Supported fleet acquisition campaigns for wide and narrow-body aircrafts for major operators over the past 12 years, with a focus on next-generation aircraft types, such as A330NEO, A350, 787, 777X, A320NEO and 737MAX valued at over $100 billion in list price
- Led comprehensive airline cost reduction initiatives for major carriers in North America, Europe and the Middle East, with a particular focus on maintenance and ground handling
- Oversaw sustainability projects for leading legacy carriers, including Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”) sustainability report development, sustainability initiative benchmarking and net-zero strategy development
- Executed a due diligence project for a range of European and Latin American carriers, including conducting interviews with target airline executives and a comprehensive review and rebuild of 5-10 year business plans
- Conducted comprehensive maintenance diagnostics projects for more than half a dozen carriers, resulting in identified savings in contracted and in-house maintenance ranging from 5%-15%
Education
B.S., Aerospace Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.S., Aerospace Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Contact
T: +1 212 247 1010
david.walfisch@fticonsulting.com -
Office
1166 Avenue of the Americas
15th Floor
New York, NY 10036
United States
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Expertise
Business Transformation
Cost Optimization
Due Diligence
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Industries