Aviall Name Phasing Out As Boeing Further Integrates Distribution Services

Boeing will begin phasing out the Aviall name this month in an effort to further unify its broader distribution services.

The move should not come as a surprise as Boeing continues to integrate and leverage Aviall and the former KLX Aerospace, which Boeing purchased in October 2018 for $4.25 billion.

That acquisition, its largest since buying McDonnell Douglas in 1997 for $13.3 billion, was complimentary to Aviall—with few overlaps—and Boeing saw it as a way to expand its distribution capabilities and become more nimble.

In February 2019, the airframe OEM changed KLX’s name to Boeing Distribution Services Inc. (BDSI). A few months later, in July 2019, it also changed Aviall’s legal entity name to Boeing Distribution Inc. (BDI).

Parts distribution and integrated supply chain solutions comprise a significant portion of Boeing Global Services’ revenues, the total of which was $18.5 billion, an 8% increase over 2018.

“Transitioning to a unified Boeing offering for the wide range of distribution services and retiring the Aviall brand will streamline our presence along with our processes and operations,” says a Boeing representative. “We are confident that this One Boeing approach will prove especially valuable in a highly fragmented, global and competitive marketplace.”

In an interview with Aviation Week in October 2019, Boeing Global Services CEO Ted Colbert said there were a lot of synergies between Aviall and BDSI.

“We're taking advantage of all of those synergies that were in the thesis to bring KLX in-house in the first place. We've got a lot of investment in used serviceable materials, and we're looking at how additive manufacturing can serve us from a parts perspective.”

Aviall can trace its history to 1932. The Aviall name, however, was launched in 1981 from the mergers of Cooper Airmotive and Aviation Power Supply.

Boeing incurred a fourth quarter charge for the retirement of the Aviall brand, but it cannot provide that figure until Jan. 31 after its SEC Form 10-K for the quarter is released.