The bustling show floor at MRO Europe 2025.
Credit: Mike Norman/Maxim Photography
A boisterous show floor at the recent MRO Europe event in London reflected another year of surging revenues for the maintenance market.
Absent a black swan event, the mood at next year’s exhibition could be little different. Yet a key question lingers: How long will the good times roll?
Not as long as many predict, according to John Wenzel, an associate partner at consultancy Bain & Co.
Presenting from the GoLive theater on the show floor, Wenzel pointed out that GDP and airline demand growth are slowing, with Bain forecasting declining yields from this year and slower traffic (RPK) growth over the next decade than occurred from 2010 to 2019 (4% versus 6.5%).
Bain also expects pent-up retirement demand to result in a surge in teardowns in the early 2030s, increasing USM availability and pushing down the price of materials.
In that environment, Wenzel said, MROs’ priorities would change from offering capacity and parts to differentiating themselves with value-added services. These might include options like providing predictive maintenance at scale or e-commerce solutions that streamline digital interaction with their customers.
That theme was also discussed during the MRO Europe conference, with one panelist noting that customers are increasingly looking for an “Amazon-like” experience for services like ordering parts.
Concerns were also raised about underlying airline demand, with easyJet’s head of technical fleet management, Swaran Sidhu, noting that profitability is under pressure as the “revenge travel” trend runs out of steam and broader economic headwinds threaten discretionary travel spending.
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