Why Airline Companies Need to Partner with Providers of AOG Airplane Parts and Repair Services

Why Airline Companies Need to Partner with Providers of AOG Airplane Parts and Repair Services

AOG events (Aircraft on Ground) are always very damaging for airline companies. They disrupt various airline operations, costing the airline company a lot of money. AOG events manifest when there are one or more technical defects on an aircraft. These technical defects need to be fixed, or else the aircraft won’t be allowed to take off. Various researchers have developed metrics to assess how much AOG events cost airline companies.

Irrespective of how much money one minute of delay costs an airline company, it’s safe to say these figures are extremely significant for an industry that has faced various financial issues in the past. On top of that, forecasting the risk of such technical failures is extremely difficult. That’s why, when it’s time to mitigate the impact of AOG events, many airline companies struggle.

AOG events not only force airline companies to invest in new parts, but they also force them to incur a plethora of unnecessary experiences –

  • Passengers are denied boarding compensation.
  • The airline companies have to pay out of their own pockets to arrange safe accommodation for stranded customers.
  • The maintenance costs in AOG events are usually significant.
  • Network effects on other flights (other flights can get delayed or even canceled) are triggered when even one aircraft is stuck on the ground for too long.  

According to many experts, Aircraft on Ground events are set to become worse for airline companies. These companies can’t possibly root out the constant issue of unexpected technical defects. Even the MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul) companies that provide respite to the airline companies during AOG events are facing a challenging time.

Labor Shortage in the Aircraft Maintenance Industry 

Airline companies that don’t have long-standing partnerships with experienced MRO companies will experience many troubles in future AOG events. Why? There simply aren’t enough experienced technicians in the aircraft maintenance industry! As the airline industry gets ready to tackle future challenges such as dealing with larger customer bases or accommodating larger and more advanced fleets, their repair partners are facing severe labor shortage issues. 

  • By 2027, over 10,000 new aircraft are expected to be launched. That means in less than seven years; the global fleet will increase by 40%. It’s safe to expect that the number of AOG events during this period will also increase.
  • The workload of aviation mechanics will increase significantly over the next decade. More importantly, these workers will have to improve their skill sets to support the ever-improving and ever-expanding fleet. 

The flooding demand is producing new challenges for aircraft maintenance companies across the globe. For example, the aviation MRO industry in Europe is facing similar challenges as the American aviation MRO industry. Although Asia still has a sufficient number of mechanics and MRO experts available at the moment, the Asian aviation MRO industry will also face similar challenges in a few years.

  • According to forecasts from the airline company Airbus, Asia’s aviation MRO industry will need 635,000 new MRO technicians by the next twenty years. That’s equivalent to increasing the existing workforce by a whopping 44%.
  • Executives of various MRO companies report that it’s getting more challenging to attract and retain high-quality aircraft maintenance technicians and MRO experts. In Asia, 10,000 new aircraft will be added by the next twenty years.
  • A lot of these aircraft will feature much more advanced designs than the existing machines. So, keeping up with a large number of mechanics and providing them with apt skill-sets via training will be extremely challenging for many MRO companies.

So, how do these challenges in the MRO sector impact the aviation industry as a whole? Not positively. The shortage of labor will –

  • Drive-up maintenance costs.
  • Increase the costs of AOG replacement parts.
  • Increase average turnaround times for scheduled maintenance procedures.
  • High-cost tickets and extensive repair requirements may potentially crush the airlines that were already struggling to maintain profitability.

The Importance of Finding Reliable MRO Partners

Don’t worry – it’s not all doom and gloom for the global aviation industry. Despite these recruitment-related challenges, experienced providers of AOG Airplane Parts and repair services. These experienced companies have been able to address this looming technician shortage by –

  • Expanding their Candidate and Client Pool – The best MRO companies currently work for various government, private, and foreign agencies. The work these MRO experts do is exciting and attracts more candidates into the technical profession.
  • Investing in Training – The best MRO companies are always equipping their technicians with new skills that enable them to serve new product line opportunities. Timely equipment upgrade also helps as the repair technicians get to work in state-of-the-art machining centers, learning new next-gen capabilities.
  • Investing in Technology – Investing in technologies and tools that offer the mechanics as much support as they need is vital. In addition to enabling the MRO companies to service new sizes and categories of parts, investing in advanced equipment also ushers MRO technicians into a new generation of sophistication where they can confidently take on commercial and military responsibilities.

Minimizing AOG times will be a challenge for airline companies that don’t have long-standing partnerships with experienced MRO companies!