Some of the world’s biggest insurers are fighting back against claims by the aircraft’s owners. The insurers say the owners should have done more to grab planes before they were seized. And they are arguing in court filings that the U.S.’s support for Ukraine means that it is, in effect, at war with Russia. That would void some claims.
At stake: billions of dollars, more than 400 planes, hundreds of millions in legal costs. The legal fight, sprawling over two continents and dozens of companies, will likely affect coverage for future conflicts, analysts and lawyers said.
The planes, mostly Airbus and Boeing commercial jets leased to both Russian and foreign airlines, were worth more than $10 billion when they were stranded in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine just over two years ago.
The planes are owned by a small number of big but mostly no-name aircraft-leasing companies. They are covered by insurers from both Russia and the West, including giants such as American International Group, Chubb and Swiss Re.
Lawyers are still haggling over the most basic questions about who should pay. Is there any chance the jets could be returned to their owners? Were the planes stolen by the Russian airlines or seized by the state? Have the jets been so poorly maintained or so badly damaged that they are worthless?
The dispute dates back to the chaotic early days of the war in Ukraine. The U.S. and Europe put sanctions on Russia, which forced leasing companies to end agreements with Russia’s airlines. Hundreds of aircraft were left in limbo.
Leasing companies hired repo teams to grab the aircraft when they landed at friendly airports. They had few successes. The repossession effort has tapered off. Leasing companies acknowledge that it is unlikely the planes would be able to fly again in the West due to the makeshift way in which Russia has been maintaining the jets.
The Kremlin ordered airlines not to return those jets, effectively absconding with billions in assets. Many of the planes have been registered in Russia and are flying domestic routes or going overseas to friendly countries.
The leasing companies, which own around half of the world’s commercial jets, typically require airlines to insure their planes with a local company, which then sells off some of the risk to international reinsurers. The leasing companies also have their own insurance, covering war and other risks.
The insurers have offered many reasons why they shouldn’t pay the claims. One is that they withdrew coverage for Russia after the war started but before the planes they insured got stranded there.
If they win on that argument, it “could undermine the future of the insurance product itself if buyers doubt that cover is reliable for any new conflict,” according to Rob Smart, chief technical officer at Mactavish, a U.K. firm that advises policyholders.
Insurers are also arguing that exclusions for war can be triggered even when countries aren’t actually fighting with each other. The insurers said the financial and other support given to Ukraine by the West is proof of involvement in the conflict. “‘War’ is no longer merely ‘boots on the ground,’” Swiss Re said in a court filing.
Another defense is that the aircraft-leasing companies could have done more to retrieve their planes. Chubb said in a court filing that the companies “had opportunities prior to and after February 24, 2022, to remove their assets from Russia.” To the extent they failed to do this, they “voluntarily abandoned their assets” and so aren’t covered by the insurance. The leasing companies say it was impossible to retrieve the jets in all but a handful of cases.
Steven C. Marks of law firm Podhurst Orseck, representing leasing company Carlyle Aviation Partners, called the “ridiculous bunch of defenses” a stalling tactic and questioned whether all the insurers had adequate funds to pay the claims. The insurers’ management of Russia-related claims “could lead to larger-scale problems, including a domino effect of insolvencies and missed payments,” he wrote last month to the Federal Insurance Office, a U.S. government body that monitors the insurance industry.
While foreign insurers are fighting, Russian insurers have paid settlements worth more than $2 billion for more than 100 aircraft, according to securities filings and company statements. Irish leasing company AerCap Holdings, which in 2022 took a $2.7 billion write-down on its planes stuck in Russia, has agreed to deals for 67 of its 113 planes in the country, getting in total $1.3 billion of cash.
These deals appear to value the aircraft at less than they were worth before the war began. AerCap got around 70% of the insured value of the aircraft, the company said last month. Critics say Russia is trying to get ownership of the planes on the cheap.
But the legal fight is far from over. AerCap is still pursuing its Western insurers for $2.2 billion for its 113 written-off planes, including amounts not recovered under its settlements. “So it’s not as though that money is necessarily lost,” Peter Juhas, the company’s chief financial officer, told investors last month.
Others are rejecting the discounted offers from Russian insurers. Carlyle Aviation Partners, owned by the private-equity giant, is pursuing a 23-plane claim for more than $700 million in Florida state court. It rejected an offer from Russian insurers to settle for a discount to the jets’ book value.
“The same template was offered to us and we’re not agreeing to it,” Carlyle lawyer Marks said. He accused the Western insurers of dragging their feet to try to persuade aircraft-leasing companies to agree to discounted offers.
Benjamin Katz contributed to this article.
Write to Jean Eaglesham at Jean.Eaglesham@wsj.com