Conference Chews Over MRO Bottlenecks

While panels covered all the key issues in the aftermarket, including engine durability, the parts market, inflation, digitization and maintenance capacity, discussions often veered back to materials and labor shortages.

“It’s been three years since we shut down capacity so what’s happening?” asked Iberia Maintenance’s Ivan Vallejo, summing up the frustration of many MRO providers at ongoing delays from the OEMs.

An added annoyance has been higher parts price inflation during the manufacturers’ annual round of price increases, with several MRO providers warning of a threat to long-term maintenance contracts.

“Certain fixed prices on longer-term agreements have assumptions about how much prices will increase, and these may not be true any more,” said Miguel Martins of TAP Maintenance & Engineering.

Meanwhile, keynote speaker Andy Best, chief technical officer of British Airways, said the flag carrier was still trying to drive turn times to where they were before the pandemic, adding that manufacturers needed to invest more in the recovery.

He also noted that while BA would continue to outsource where necessary for maintenance, suppliers “need to have a sustainability play”.