Page 10 - AAA JULY - SEPTEMBER 2019 Online Magazine

sion-resistant than both.

A New Trend
A latest MRO Survey, conducted by Oliver Wyman, indicates that
about 50 per cent of MRO providers plan to invest into develop-
ment of composite repair capabilities in the next 5 years. Total
MRO spend is expected to rise to US$116 billion by 2029, up from
US$81.9 billion in 2019. Aside from the growth in the fleet, the
increase will be driven by more expensive maintenance visits and
technology enhancements.

The survey says airframe maintenance will continue its trend of
lower unit costs, driven primarily by heavy maintenance visit inter-
vals stretching to 12 years. This is possible through the increased
use of composites and hybrid alloys in new-generation aircraft,
providing better fatigue and corrosion resistance than in previous
generations.
“The growth of airframe maintenance costs will slow because of
the increased use of proven design materials such as composites,
titanium, and advanced aluminum alloys that reduce the need for
fatigue-related inspections and corrosion-related maintenance
checks. These new, more advanced technologies and materials
can reduce overall fatigue and corrosion maintenance tasks by 60
per cent for certain aircraft. Over the course of the forecast period
of 2029, airframe will be the slowest growing MRO segment, with
an average annual growth rate of 1.7 per cent,” says Chad Porter,
Technical Specialist at Oliver Wyman.
Globally, MRO spend related to narrow-body and wide-body air-
craft will comprise US$69.2 billion of the US$77.4 billion total, with bine for seven percent of MRO spend totalling
regional jets and turboprops combining for an MRO spend of just $8.2 billion.
US$8.2 billion. In 2018, narrow-bodies made up 57 per cent of the Given the rapid transition to new-genera-
fleet and 45 per cent of MRO market share. Wide-bodies, on the tion aircraft over the next decade, it’s evident
other hand, made up 20 per cent of the global fleet, but repre- that MRO providers must prepare for the work
sented more than 44 per cent of the MRO expenditures because associated with the newer fleet types or focus
the aircraft were more maintenance-intensive and more complex. their strategy to capture end-of-life markets.
Oliver Wyman forecasts a significant shift in spending away from “From an airframe MRO perspective, provid-
regional jets and turboprops and toward narrow-body aircraft over ers must be able to handle the new composite
the next 10 years. Narrow-body MRO spend will see a US$27.6 and metal matrix materials dominant in the
billion increase to US$62.6 billion by 2028, with overall market latest-generation aircraft, such as the 787
share rising to nearly 55 per cent. This share is taken from every and A350. Advancements include much more
aircraft class, as wide-body market share will drop to 38 per cent, sophisticated avionics and systems that
totalling US$43.9 billion, and regional jets and turboprops will com- interface with health monitoring technology,

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