A higher volume of engine shop visits are taking place so far this year as airlines increase the number of assets returning to service.

The topic of engine shop visit demand was discussed at Aviation Week’s Engine Leasing, Trading & Finance conference in London this week.

“We are seeing some increases in 2022 demand,” says Danilo Colombo, VP technical consultancy firm SGI Aviation, who points to demand for MRO slot availability for heavier workscopes as an example of this upturn as the commercial fleet becomes increasingly busy.

Colombo highlights challenges around labor bottlenecks and capacity constraints as ongoing challenges to restoring pre-COVID demand.

The upturn is welcome following a dire 2020 and a disappointing 2021. “We thought 2021 would be better than 2020, but it wasn’t by much,” says Brian Ovington, director of marketing, engine services at GE Aviation.

This year, Ovington says the engine giant is 25% up year-over-year on its CFM and around 10% on the CF34 engine programs, but says it is operating from a low base compared to pre-COVID levels.

While being optimistic about a strong second half of 2022, Ovington also foresees capacity constraints, partly driven by the tight labor market and swathes of the aviation workforce leaving the industry over the past two years. “Even though we expected that growth this year, it’s hard to bring back resources through our overhaul and repair shops,” he says.

He adds that the OEM plans to hire around 1,500 people this year, but the process for this would be a gradual one to align with its ramp ups. Access to skilled labor has become trickier due to an exodus of people from the industry during the crisis, Ovington adds.

Anthony Spaulding, EVP at parts supplier Magellan Aviation Group, has seen an uptick in airline maintenance shops. “Now the airlines are opening back up they are needing those engines back into service,” he says, which in turn is leading to more used serviceable material requirements. 

Material requirements are also growing for independent third-party engine shops, Spaulding says, but adds that he believes we are still some way off from seeing the return of full front-to-back engine restoration work.

An in-depth analysis of Engine Leasing, Trading & Finance will be on AviationWeek.com next week.