If you’ve flown on a commercial airliner over the last two decades, there’s a good chance you were in a plane leased from Steven Udvar-Hazy.

The Hungarian refugee, who came to America as a child in 1958 with little more than a love for aviation, is now one of the richest men in Los Angeles. He amassed his estimated $2.2-billion fortune by building up a global aircraft-leasing empire and selling it in 1990 to insurance giant American International Group Inc.

But now Udvar-Hazy, who was allowed to keep running the business under AIG, wants part or all of the company back. The struggling insurer received $182.5 billion in bailout money from the federal government last year after its near-collapse. To pay back the government, AIG is selling off its assets and has its Century City-based aircraft-leasing business, International Lease Finance Corp., on the market.

AIG’s board is scheduled to meet Tuesday to consider “strategic alternatives” that may include the future of the leasing unit.

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