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COLUMN


                                                                       Number 1:
                                                                       Out with the old and in with the cloud – the
                                                                       largest airlines will move away from outdated
                                                                       aircraft maintenance systems dropping legacy
                                                                       system market share from 37 per cent to as
                                                                       little as 21 per cent by 2027 as cloud software
                                                                       adoption continues to accelerate.

                                                                       First, let’s take a serious look at the existing
                                                                       software infrastructure. Many airline opera-
                                                                       tors and MROs still use legacy software which
                                                                       not only reduces efficiency, but also doesn’t
                                                                       allow for true fleet oversight. Recent research
                                                                       from ARC found that the industry is poised for
                                                                       change: “with the overall trend by the major
                                                                       airline carriers to move to enterprise level core
                                                                       MRO solutions that are more comprehensive
                                                                       in scope, this should afford an opportunity for
        FLYING HIGH                                                    those providers whose MRO solutions meet
                                                                       these enterprise core requirements to replace
                                                                       legacy MRO systems currently used by these
                                                                       carriers.”

        ONCE AGAIN                                                     As airlines begin to look at technology as a
                                                                       key dependency to their recovery plans, they
                                                                       will find that cutting-edge aviation maintenance
                                                                       software sits firmly at the center of those plans.
                                                                       Why? Because this technology can unlock the
                                                                       potential of efficiency gains that allow for the
                                                                       better management of fleet configurations,
         HOW 2022 COULD PROVE TO BE A RENAISSANCE  modernizing and optimizing maintenance
         FOR COMMERCIAL AVIATION WITH THE AID OF                       planning, and standardizing reporting across
         TECHNOLOGY                                                    an airline’s operations, to deliver insights across
                                                                       the entire value chain.

           Rob Mather                                                  Cloud solutions also allow for scalable growth
                                                                       across MRO operations globally for any air-
                                                                       line to save both time and costs. These factors
         The aviation sector has been faced with major ongoing challenges  allow in turn for better financial performance
         through 2021 as numerous Covid-19 variants continue to cut pas- visibility, greater efficiencies and more oppor-
         senger numbers, disrupt operations, and cause staffing issues.  tunities for cost saving—and the good news is
         While there has been a significant uptick in comparison to 2020,  unlocking these benefits doesn’t necessarily
         the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) reported that  require large scale digital overhauls or major
         2021 has seen a 49 per cent reduction in passenger numbers from  IT investment.
         2019, leading to an estimated USD $324 billion dollar loss of airline
         gross passenger operating revenues.                           Number 2:
                                                                       Predictive maintenance is lined up for take-off
         However, the prediction for the market remains one of positivity  – the number of airlines undertaking predictive
         and recovery in 2022, as passenger numbers and capacity are  maintenance programs will grow to 15 per cent
         predicted to increase by as much as 47 per cent, allowing in turn  of top airlines in 2022
         for profits to return. The last 24-months have clearly shown that
         neither airlines or maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) provid- Truly predictive maintenance is here to stay,
         ers can rely on past successes. Instead, they need to proactively  and its accelerated adoption will be a key driver
         look to adapt and futureproof their business end to end.      of digital transformation in the aviation industry
                                                                       throughout 2022. Before the pandemic it was
         There are three key themes the world of aviation  estimated that as little as 10 per cent of top
         needs to address in order to do so.                           airlines had implemented a predictive mainte-


         ASIAN AIRLINES & AEROSPACE                                                             June_July 2022 | 29
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