Authored by Christopher Jackson, Rohan Soni and Julia Norsetter.

The recovery of the aviation market, post-pandemic, remains in full swing with global passenger numbers back up from the stunted 1.8 bn passengers in 2020 to an anticipated 5.0 bn by the end of 2024. Airlines and operators have needed to keep pace with the returned demand for travel, and the industry as a whole has been tasked with tackling various constraints head on. Maintenance facilities, parts suppliers and other entities are among those affected, with challenges including:

1. Lack of space in MRO facilities – For various reasons, there has been a spike in the number of the total global engine population that have maintenance requirements. This has resulted in reduced capacity in many global repair facilities. Accordingly, the turn-around time for repairs and overhauls has increased, with an increased demand for spare engines to fill the gap. These capacity constraints are expected to reach a peak in 2024. 
2. Parts shortages – The parts market has also been constrained. New OEM part production has slowed in part, due to well-publicised supply chain issues, including customs delays, port congestion, labour issues and increased regulation. As a result of this parts shortage, coupled with the aforementioned increase in the number of engines requiring maintenance at constrained MRO facilities, operators have been warned that wing-to-wing turnaround times could take up to 300 days for some engine types. A shift towards the use of used, repaired and overhauled parts may help alleviate this shortage. 
3. New engine technology – The aviation industry is, of course, under constant pressure to modernise and increase fuel efficiency.  But, given a backlog of orders and increased production time and cost, deliveries are not keeping pace with how quickly the market needs new engines. The move to next-gen engine technology, including thrust improvement and enhanced “time on wing”, will take a few years to come to fruition. Moreover, the proposed electrification/hybridisation of engines will take even longer to materialise given the inherent complexities of electrification such as battery weight, and the fact that that R&D efforts are stretched thin. 

The problem-solvers and the critical thinkers among us will be looking towards potential solutions to ease the pressure. Below we highlight several examples of the movers and shakers in the industry who are looking to combat the squeeze and restore some balance to the aircraft engine industry: 

• Rolls-Royce announced in early 2024 that, despite supply chain issues and a skilled labour shortage, Rolls-Royce has committed to investing £1bn into an upgrade package for their Trent family of engines (comprising Trent 1000s, 7000s and XWBs) to improve durability and on-wing time, as well as long-range fuel efficiency – two birds, one stone (hopefully nowhere near the turbine blades).
• FTAI (the aviation branch of investment fund Fortress) not only have a portfolio of spare engines, some of which are being overhauled and returned-to-service, but 43% of their revenues are now coming from their “aerospace products” division.  This division’s responsibilities include engine overhauls and engines/parts swapping, leveraging its maintenance and repair capabilities.  This allows customers to take a refurbished/overhauled part or engine to maintain service continuity (and decrease on-the-ground (AOG) time) (and, where possible, FTAI will then put the damaged or cycle/time-limited part or engine through its overhaul process). FTAI has demonstrated its commitment to MRO expansion by acquiring a third facility in Quebec, Canada, with over half a million square feet of repair space. 
• The UK Business and Trade Secretary announced in July 2024 over £100m of government funding for developing new aerospace technology projects, in particular to support greener air travel and fuel efficiency, including hydrogen and hybrid engine developments. 
• A number of MROs and aviation service providers (AAR, Lufthansa Technik, IFS and others) have looked towards software and AI platforms to increase efficiency in repair and overhaul operations – from distilling down data from airframe and engine manuals, work orders, technical checklists, interpretation of sensor data, analysis on borescope inspection videos, and many more tasks, which can be checked off much quicker and with less human intervention and time investment. 

As ever, the aviation industry is at the forefront of technological progress; constantly adapting to the changing environment in which it operates and overcoming challenges.