AMSTERDAM—Incorporating used parts and repairs into routine maintenance—already popular cost-saving options before the downturn—is positioned to thrive as airlines work to improve balance sheets as traffic returns.
But such new-part alternatives are getting attention for another positive benefit—their role in broader sustainability strategies.
“That part of the supply chain will receive greater emphasis, as there is a sustainability piece [in] reconditioning and repairing,” AAR SVP of Repair and Engineering Services Brian Sartain told Aviation Week MRO Europe attendees. “We are developing much more repair [capability] as well as alternative parts to try and find ways to recycle.”
Sartain pointed to AAR’s recently announced agreement with Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure to offer repairs and used serviceable material (USM) for the CFM International CFM56 platform. “We’re putting a little more capital behind repair development ... so that we can continue to keep those parts recycling from overhaul to overhaul.”
While the strategy has long made sense for independent suppliers, manufacturers may soon face pushback from customers that are embracing sustainability alongside cost containment.
“We could do much more within the industry,” Air France-KLM Engineering and Maintenance (AFKLM) EVP Anne Brachet said. “Part of the [aftermarket] business model is based on new parts, but there is an issue here with sustainability.”
AFKLM parent Air France-KLM Group is embracing sustainability, in part to satisfy requirements linked to emergency funding during the pandemic. AFKLM is doing its part, looking beyond the bottom-line costs of its services to offer more environmentally conscious options. While setting up a few repair centers that serve the globe might make sense from labor- and facility-cost standpoints, it leads to more demand for shipping, which generates emissions.
“One of the things that we are actively doing is looking for local support,” AFKLM Director Component Product Development and Logistics Harmen Lanser said. “If I have a [facility] in Singapore, why would I send a part over to Amsterdam or Paris to repair it? Why can’t I find a local solution? Can I avoid unnecessary transportation?”
Airframe and engine manufacturers are embracing sustainability as well, but not necessarily throughout the supply chain. The efficiency of new aircraft and engines is often cited as motivation for airlines to swap out older models for current-generation ones.
But when it comes to the highly profitable spare-parts business, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are less enthusiastic about more sustainable options, such as repairs. As operators expand their go-green efforts, pushback against the use-and-discard pattern that underpins much of the new spare-parts business could grow.
“The key is to put pressure back on OEMs,” Iberia director, strategy and supply chain Iván González Vallejo said. “They’re [pushing] for sustainability in airlines, and yet it’s an ecosystem where everyone needs to participate.”
González Vallejo suggests a coordinated push by both airlines and maintenance providers, perhaps via an industry trade association, to get manufacturers aligned.
“We think airlines need to gather up around whatever body and talk with the OEMs,” he said. “The sustainability of the system ... depends on the OEMs participating with airlines and MROs.”
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