High component costs are a key challenge in developing aftermarket services for the Boeing 787, and will likely be resolved through new MRO partnerships, according to Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance.
Financing the required spare part inventory is difficult because components for the 787 are "very expensive", said AFI KLM E&M senior vice-president business development Marcel Roubaud.
As airlines increasingly sign up to full-support contracts with access to spare part pools, it would be better to have "some partnership" to benefit from scale effects, he added.
The Franco-Dutch MRO provider has calculated that it would need to look after at least 100 aircraft to make certain savings. The company has sent offers on requests for proposals to five 787 customers, said to Roubaud.
AFI formed Spairliners, a component support venture for Airbus A380 spares, with Lufthansa Technik in 2005. While the equipment on the A380 is similarly expensive to that on the 787, the issue was exacerbated by the comparatively small global fleet.
Roubaud did not rule out partnering again with the German MRO provider for 787 components, but said that was just one among several options.
Component repair capabilities are unlikely to be established within the next two to three years, as the equipment will initially be covered by the manufacturers' warranty period. However, AFI KLM E&M wants to invest in the longer term, with avionics and pneumatic equipment likely to be among the first product areas.
The MRO provider has allocated staff to focus on engineering work for the 787, but training to qualify maintenance technicians is not due to begin until next year.
Given the increasing involvement of manufacturers in the aftermarket and more tightly controlled access to information, such as repair manuals, Roubaud doubts whether AFI KLM E&M will be able to develop as much repair and overhaul capability on 787 equipment as it had been able to on other aircraft in the past. On certain models, the company was able to accomplish MRO work on up to 80% of the equipment, he said.
Roubaud said that it would be possible for the company to specialise on certain components and hand on other equipment to partners.
He added that while AFI KLM E&M's third-party maintenance business has so far been based on the capabilities the company developed for its parent fleet, this was different for its 787 offerings and following the twinjet's deployment at the initial customers would be important.
Air France-KLM has not yet ordered the 787.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
