Time to stir the pot again I continue to hear moans about the issues we’re about to discuss, so I dusted off and updated this classic prose which will address the purchasing of aftermarket spares (other than new condition). Many of you have shared privately with me that you forwarded links to the older blog to your customers, and this too prompted this update. In this blog we’ll review the following: OVERHAULED vs. REPAIRED or INSPECTED Reliability study Lack of Overhaul instructions for many p...

We continue to hear reports that operators are bleeding cash, and that every aspect of spending is being reviewed. With this in mind, we’re seeing airlines open up to using PMA parts, parts traced to foreign airlines, and increasing use of aftermarket parts (AKA the ‘surplus’ market). With the proper controls in place, these practices save the operators considerable expense and lead time. And so it could be with two other sacred cows I’ll challenge: When buying aftermarket spares other than new,...

In a letter written in 1796 by the famous British Admiral Horatio Nelson, he makes an appeal to the ruling politicians to reconsider an order they had given for the Navy to evacuate the Mediterranean; the reconsideration based on a change of affaires in the region. In fact, rather than withdrawing, he recommends making a vigorous and desperate attempt to defend the area, led by Naval Officers exhibiting “more than common resolution”. It is in this letter that he utters his famous quote “desperat...

We need to have a frank talk about a continuing pattern of injustice and seemingly anti-competitive behavior in the aftermarket. I’ll start. Due to the current covid crisis, and perhaps to the delight of OEMs (herein manufacturers who are Production Approval Holders, PAH, or have Production Organisation Approvals, POA) who in recent years have made major forays into the aftermarket, there are many small independent MROs staggering on the brink of business failure. Aside from covid, are there any...