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,...

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...

It’s time once again to dive into the murky world of undefined terms with my professor’s hat properly donned. By undefined I mean the that the term is not clearly ensconced in regulations or standards. AS REMOVED: With the rise in popularity of aircraft and engines being disassembled to harvest parts for a supply-chain starved market, the use of the term ‘As Removed’ has come into effect, and this is really the genesis of the term. The moment the part is removed from its next higher assembly, it...