W. Paul Zampol

Paul Zampol is senior counsel with the Air Transport Industry Group of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP.

Paul Zampol joined Smith, Gambrell & Russell’s Air Transport Industry Group in 2005 after over 26 years with Delta Air Lines, Inc. He has represented U.S. and international airlines in negotiating aircraft and engine leasing, equipment acquisition and long-term engine and aircraft maintenance agreements. He has also worked on aircraft leases, aircraft sales and acquisition agreements and related matters for several aircraft lessors. Mr. Zampol’s representative matters include:

• Restructuring and contingency planning in connection with the restructuring in bankruptcy of Delta Air Lines and Comair, with a focus on Section 1110 planning
• Working on many of Delta’s aircraft leases and on its EETC financing of over 150 aircraft from 2000 to 2003
• Lead lawyer on the aircraft aspects of Delta’s acquisitions of Western Air Lines, Atlantic Southeast Airlines and Comair, and in the subsequent sale of ASA
• Negotiating and documenting major purchase agreements with airframe and engine manufacturers and negotiating and drafting fleet sale agreements, including Delta’s disposition of its fleet of 119 owned Boeing 727 aircraft

Mr. Zampol’s Delta experience also included extensive work in creditor’s rights law, DOT and FAA regulatory law, environmental law and intellectual property law.

Mr. Zampol received his B. S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1974 and his J. D., cum laude, from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1977. Prior to joining Delta, Mr. Zampol was a trial attorney with the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board.