SINGAPORE - Labor shortages and supply chain snarls are making it harder for airlines and lessors to return airplanes grounded during the pandemic to the skies as quickly as they would like, operators and maintenance providers say, Jamie Freed reports for Reuters. Continue reading original article.
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
23 September 2022 - "Some suppliers are coming out with double-digit escalations and surcharges," said Mahesh Kumar, chief executive of Asia Digital Engineering, the maintenance arm of Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia. "The airlines keep increasing their fares but that is not a sustainable business."
With traditional and predictive maintenance models alongside growing demand for air travel keeping MRO facilities full, some aircraft owners or lessees are looking at long waits to get their planes in the shop.
While getting aircraft into the hands of MRO experts is taking time, parts are still difficult to source parts to do the needed maintenance, overhaul, and repairs.
“It has changed,” JD Kuti, vice president of Pinnacle Aircraft Engines said. “Two years ago, beginning of COVID, the supply chain wasn't that bad yet. We were still able to get parts and move through everything. Over probably, I would say, the last year it's gotten worse. And the last six months has gotten even worse. It's kind of been gradually downhill.”
Related: Air China and Rolls-Royce announce new MRO facility in Beijing
Related: The hunt for MRO parts
Related: Using ‘what-if’ scenarios for more than just MRO
Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace
