Could MRO be facing a slow recovery at the beginning of 2021?

Independent MROs have tried to add to their maintenance capabilities to better service growing demand in a recovering aftermarket.
Credit: Airtech

This is an abbreviated version of the article - MRO Looks To 2021 To Begin Slow Recovery

The disruptive impact of COVID-19 on the commercial aftermarket in 2020 has been unprecedented. Aviation Week have forecast a revised market value of MRO in 2021 to $71.7 billion from the previous projection of $87.3 billion.

Ultimately, the consensus is that any aftermarket recovery will be driven by the restoration of airline passenger traffic.

Find out which areas of MRO might be see the greatest losses in the full article

Even the most ardent of optimists do not see any sign of a return to pre-coronavirus numbers until 2022 at the earliest, with the most conservative predictions looking further toward the mid-2020s. Nevertheless, the industry is already planning for the eventual recovery, believing that the market bottomed out in mid-2020.

With the rollout of novel coronavirus vaccine programs, the recovery of the world’s two largest MRO markets, North America and Western Europe, is expected to begin in earnest in 2021. However, some of these green shoots of recovery are already being seen in countries such as China, one of the first countries to resume maintenance output at its facilities. 

Learn more about how engines, USM, independent MROs and component OEMs might fare

AeroDynamic Advisory’s Murby suggests “The market will soon be through its trough, and with the greater certainty provided by the vaccine approvals, we have a more attractive space for transactions.” Murby identifies several areas of the aftermarket where this could happen. 

Read the article in full MRO Looks To 2021 To Begin Slow Recovery by James Pozzi