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Independents and some airline MROs are more than willing to team with OEMs. The OEMs’ more comprehensive presence in the aftermarket has had “a major impact on our thinking, as to the mid- to long-term positioning of the business,” says SR Technics’ Wall. The company is building strategic partnerships with leading OEMs and with airline partners, and is developing services that go beyond the traditional MRO business, such as asset management and financing. “The world is changing and the new upcoming MRO ecosystem will be very different,” predicts FL Technics’ Butautis. He even pins the future of the MRO industry on cooperation between the independent MRO providers and OEMs. FL Technics has also expanded into complementary activities such as spare parts management. Although FL Technics has joined Boeing’s GoldCare network, the MRO feels that collaboration need not be one-sided. “OEMs won’t succeed in regional [or] local aftermarkets without the support of independent players, who have the knowledge, expertise and the experience working with local clients,” Butautis says. “That is why we believe that there is plenty of space for OEMs and MRO companies to develop a mutually beneficial cooperation.” Some airline MROs actively seek out OEMs. British Airways Engineering, for example, has established a number of strategic partnerships over the last few years as part of its overall growth strategy, explains James Murray-Smith, general manager, material services and commercial. The MRO has a long-term on-site support agreement with Hamilton Sundstrand, for example, which includes guaranteed parts availability for workshop component repairs, and a component repair agreement with Thales, the in-flight entertainment specialist, he says.
British Airways Engineering also has a Flight Hour Services (FHS) agreement with Airbus covering BA’s A380 fleet. Under that
20 Aviation Maintenance |
avm-mag.com | August / September 2012
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arrangement the MRO hosts the Airbus FHS A380 pool at Heathrow. The airline unit has also partnered with Boeing to support their GoldCare fleet maintenance requirements for the 787 and next- generation 737.
Airline MROs The biggest Western European airline MROs, LHT and AFI KLM E&M, are holding their own and still experiencing growth, but it isn’t getting any easier.
“MRO business has held up pretty well as far as workload is concerned, relatively to the decrease in global flight hours throughout the industry,” says AFI KLM E&M’s Weber. “Revenues are under pressure, however, due to the financial pressure that airlines try to shift towards their providers.” Opportunities are still available, but they are focused on modern,
fuel-efficient aircraft, Weber says. Despite the turmoil in world economic affairs, AFI KLM E&M has managed to have rather steady growth in global external customer revenues in the last three years. For the Franco-Dutch MRO component and engine work is clearly
the trend driving growth, Weber says. It has increased Very Big Engine (VBE) business, specifically with the GE90 family, Weber says. It also recently signed an alliance with Hamilton Sundstrand on the 787, the first by the component OEM whose parent carrier will operate the new aircraft type. The alliance will also help the MRO with obtaining detailed documentation and affordable pricing from the systems supplier. AFI KLM E&M recently launched 787 component services by signing LOT Polish Airlines to a long-term integrated support contract. The agreement covers repairs and pool access for more than 600 part numbers, logistics support and spare parts stocking at the customer’s main base. In the past year the MRO increased its equity stake in Miami-based
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