Reporting for LARA Magazine, Ian Harbison speaks to Scott Symington, Chief Commercial Officer at AJW Group, about how AJW and its customers adapt to shifting USM demand trends. 

Symington begins by stating that demand for fixed rate power-by-the-hour (PBH) services is at an all-time high, as airlines look for supply chain certainty and prefer to transfer risk to providers like AJW Group, which holds extensive inventory pools. 

To enable the company to efficiently manage and outsource repairs on behalf of its customers, AJW’s customer repairs team has established relationships with hundreds of third-party MROs, including in-house AJW Technique, with facilities in Canada and the UK. 

“This enables the company to efficiently manage and outsource repairs on behalf of its customers,” explains Symington. 

Strategic partnerships like these are critical to service delivery, and Symington shares that as a supplier, “AJW is committed to staying ahead of shifting demand patterns to ensure it remains a key player in this evolving industry.” 

Harbison asks if OEM production is showing any signs of improvement.

“There is finally an uptick in OEM production after their Covid-related problems” says Symington, however, “the USM market still saw a 25 per cent growth in sales and trading over the past year.” 

He continues, stating that airlines and MROs such as AJW Technique continue to look for cost-effective solutions to manage operational expenses, particularly as supply chain challenges continue for certain new parts. 

“The industry is still trying to find a balance between new and serviceable material, but USM remains a key part of the supply chain strategy,” he adds. 

Is there any evidence that airlines are cannibalising their own fleets, rather than purchasing USM, asks Harbison?

“Larger airlines with the resources to cannibalize their own fleets will do so, but most airlines don’t have the necessary resources or the capability,” says Symington. 

He explains that an airline would need to own the aircraft to do this, which means anyone with a leased aircraft, which is over 50 percent of the market, needs to return the aircraft to the lessor. 

“Most lessors will sell aircraft for part-out into the USM market. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean a reduction in USM demand. Carriers still rely on the aftermarket for critical components, especially while there continues to have supply chain and lead time constraints,” he states. 

Which items are in highest demand right now and why?

“Typically, the highest demand is for the CEO/NG types, but also those on new generation assets where the OEM has tight control of the aftermarket but insufficient stock to meet airline demand,” Symington says.

He continues, sharing that the purchase price of certain aircraft types is prohibitively high, but that this has created an opportunity for AJW to expand its widebody inventory—especially for the A330 and A777.

“The company's size and scale has also allowed it to deploy a strategy of heavily investing in parts to become a major player in the A350 and A787 markets,” Symington concludes.