Page 24 - AAA JANUARY-MARCH 2021 Online Magazine

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Runway to
But as vaccines are rolled out, the future is
looking more hopeful for the industry and con-
trolling the financial impact of the pandemic will
be an aim for many commercial carriers and
MROs in the recovery phase. Flexibility and
Recovery future proofing will, therefore, be key themes
for the industry outlook for 2021.

Agility and Flexibility Key
Airlines had to park huge percentages of
their fleets of aircraft in March and many have
only returned service to a fraction of their
FUTURE PROOFING WILL BE KEY FOR pre-pandemic capacity since then—in April it
COMMERCIAL AVIATION PROGRESS IN 2021 was reported that almost two thirds of global
fleets were parked. After aircraft have remained
dormant for the majority of 2020, the next
challenge airlines will face is if, and when, they
should return the majority of the fleet to full
service again.

Some airlines will be carefully assessing the
value in bringing older planes back to service
and many airlines have even made the deci-
sion to retire aircraft early due to the increased
maintenance costs of older aircraft. Some air-
craft will take over 100 man-hours or 45 days to
become flight ready once they are brought out
of storage, so bringing aircraft back to service
is not a decision commercial operators will be
taking lightly.

Leveraging AI and ML learning capabilities to
model and prepare for different scenarios will
be vital to help accurate assessment and timely
decision making, which I discuss at greater
depth later. The decision will depend greatly
on how long it takes for international travel to
resume, international travel corridors and the
distribution of a vaccine.
Flexibility will be essential for airlines coming
out of this. Demand will be harder to predict as
Graham Grose, Vice President and attitudes to flying have changed—airlines must
Industry Director, IFS be prepared to mobilise aircraft quickly when
restrictions are lifted. Tracking and executing
The past 12 months have been an extremely testing time for those on all the parts and work orders associated
operating in the commercial aviation industry, but all eyes are with an aircraft return to service will be cru-
focused on 2021 and beyond, and on the developments that are cial. The key will be flexible software that can
set to dominate the industry and help guide it towards as quick a respond quickly to changes in demand.
recovery as possible. 2021 will be a crucial time for commercial As with the process of storing and maintaining
operators and independent MROs alike, and the decisions they fleets, the return to service will need meticulous
make during the recovery process could mean success or failure planning—I see the success of airlines in 2021
for some organisations. being closely tied to their ability to handle the
Commercial aviation has faced major challenges in 2020 due return to service.
to the near shut-down of international travel in March 2020.
Commercial operators and MROs have had to park almost entire ‘Preighters’ are Here to Stay
fleets of aircraft and maintain them over a 9-month period to ensure Passenger transport was almost brought to a
they are flight ready—when the time comes. standstill in March and many airlines are yet

24 | January/March 2021 WWW .GBP .COM.SG/ AAA