Supply chain issues continue to persist as a meaningful risk and cost driver in the aerospace industry. According to experts, shortages of raw materials and critical components including metals like titanium, specialized alloys, composites, high-temperature materials used in engine parts, landing gear and avionics, continue. OEM price escalations may also feed into parts pricing. Lead times for parts procurement have increased significantly, both for final parts and for subcomponents, according to IATA.
Shipping delays, export certifications, and even tariffs are amplifying disruptions. Because new aircraft deliveries have been impacted by these supply chain issues, airlines are keeping older aircraft in service longer. Older aircraft often have parts that are no longer produced, with regulatory or certification complexities which makes sourcing and repair more challenging.
Labor issues due to a dearth of experienced technicians in some areas and continued retirements may be adding pressure as well. Some reports say labor costs are rising and that wage inflation is adding cost pressure.
These supply chain issues are driving demand for alternative sourcing such as used serviceable materials (USM), PMA parts, digital tools, predictive maintenance and others as adaptive responses.
The Oliver Wyman 2025 supply chain risk and resilience survey, “Navigating Supply Chain Resilience Through An Uncertain Future” revealed a worrisome paradox. The report says organizations have maintained a strong focus on supply chain risk and resilience and that has helped. “Eighty percent of respondents now consider their supply chains to be very resilient,” the report says. “Yet despite this confidence, only 4% plan to increase their resilience budgets, and more than a third expect to reduce them.” This hardly seems wise.
Many in the industry believe that some of these supply constraints will continue for several years. Check out Ian Harbison’s report on the supply chain situation that goes into more detail about the many complexities impacting it. That story starts on page 60.
Several of the feature stories in this issue of Aviation Maintenance take a look at ways to help alleviate some of those supply chain pressures. One of those is our cover story about predictive maintenance for engines. While predictive maintenance has been around for a long time, check out what experts like Karine Lavoie-Tremblay, director of commercial engines digital transformation at Pratt & Whitney, and Dr. Christian Keller who oversees the engine trend monitoring program at MTU Maintenance, say about taking predictive maintenance to the next level. That story begins on page 20.
Next, we take a look at the PMA parts market. The use of PMA parts continues to grow. Jason Dickstein, who heads up the Modification and Replacement Parts Association (MARPA) is seeing yet another trend in the PMA market. He says cooperation between the OEM type certificate holders and PMA companies to develop new PMAs is happening more than ever. “But now this OEM/PMA cooperation is becoming a little bit more public. Today, even engine OEMs are buying PMA parts to relieve their supply chain issues,” Dickstein says. Read all about the state of the PMA parts market and how it can help with supply chain concerns in the story starting on page 32.
We take a moment to acknowledge a milestone for Barfield. The MRO and maker of ground support test equipment company is celebrating its 80th year in business — an impressive feat in aviation. We had the opportunity to speak with CEO Gilles
Mercier about what this milestone means to the company, what he sees as the current challenges in our business and his outlook on the future. Check out his answers in our executive Q&A starting on page 46.
On page 48 Mario Pierobon delves into human factors. He reports that the aviation maintenance industry is at a juncture where traditional hands-on expertise meets ever-evolving digital technology. Today mechanics on the shop floor must navigate a complex maze of physical dexterity, data interpretation, experience-based intuition and algorithm-generated recommendations. Is human factors training keeping pace with the digitization of the hangar? Experts in human factors like Michael Parrish, president of Elliott Aviation and Jonathan Huff, senior solutions engineer at TeamViewer, give their takes on where we are and where we can improve our human factors focus as technology in maintenance processes increases.
Composite materials have become indispensable in the aerospace world and the ability to repair rather than replace them is a vital skill for the industry. As Mark Robins reports, composite repair sophistication has advanced significantly by using artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced software tools. These technologies are transforming composite repair from a highly manual craft into a more data-driven, precise and predictive discipline. Learn more starting on page 54.
No matter how high tech the industry gets, nothing gets done in MRO without tools. So, we also take a look at some classic tools that can help any operation be safer, more efficient and more accurate. Check those tools out starting on page 64.
As always, we have our columns, and I want to encourage you to check out the three in this issue. First, Chris Brumitt, managing director at Maine Pointe, shares his thoughts on the demand for special aircraft for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), electronic warfare (EW), medevac, tactical transport and maritime patrol. He urges new thinking on the development of this type of aircraft program. Check out his call to action on page 70. Avionics expert Marijan Jozic is back this issue with his perspectives on the missing link in accident investigations — cockpit video recorders. See his column on page 72. And finally, ARSA’s inimitable Sarah MacLeod’s piece asks a seemingly simple question. But if you know Sarah, you will know it’s never that simple. Check out her piece on page 74.
Enjoy this issue and hope to see you in the hangar or in London for MRO Europe in October.