Air Works Group recently celebrated its 74th anniversary. Managing Director and CEO Anand Bhaskar speaks with Aviation Week about the Indian MRO provider’s growth so far and expansion plans for the near future.
Air Works just entered its 74th year of service. How has the company grown since its launch?
In the initial days, we used to primarily maintain Dakota [Douglas] DC-3s and [Beechcraft Model 18] Twin Beech aircraft. Our first outstation was at Chennai, where we began maintaining aircraft for the Hindu Group. During the 1960s, we also secured contracts to maintain incoming aircraft of foreign airlines such as Ariana Afghan, Royal Nepal and Iran Air that were flying to Mumbai, marking our first brush with line maintenance. The 1970s saw some exciting expansions and lots of innovative work with government institutions as they began to come of age. Our first rotary wing aircraft, a Bell [47] G5, also came during this period for crop-dusting. The 1980s and 1990s saw us liaising with global OEMs to bring them and their maintenance expertise into India, as well as working with airlines (Jet Airways) to [establish] our own airline maintenance setup, which we had to regrettably exit due to regulatory changes at the time.
By the 2000s, MRO was starting to become a highly specialized and increasingly skilled domain that required trained experts, dedicated infrastructure, professional management and significant investment. With a view to secure the company’s future amid the transformation in aviation, the founders decided to hand over the operations to industry professionals and also brought in [private equity] investments, to enable the company’s expansion in MRO as well as entry into related domains.
Subsequently, with the India aviation story beginning to take shape in 2015-16, we began rejigging our strategy to refocus and strengthen our indigenous presence, adding capabilities as well as capacity to secure a first-mover advantage. As part of the exercise, a few non-key businesses were divested, and certain promising ones retained in a manner that complemented and grew our services portfolio. We undertook significant investment during the height of the pandemic to grow our maintenance capacity by a whopping 40%, commissioning a new base maintenance facility in Kochi at the Cochin International Airport, and expanding our existing operations infrastructure at Hosur, Tamil Nadu, for our clients in business aviation. We remain open to exploring newer opportunities that can further strengthen our current capacity.
How has Air Works contributed to India’s growth story over the years?
Our contribution to MRO in India includes being the country’s first authorized service facility for Bell; representing maintenance for numerous OEMs in India for the very first time, such as Gulfstream, Textron, Bombardier and others; setting up the country’s first private maintenance training facility in the early 1980s; and building India’s first European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certified, privately owned commercial aircraft base maintenance facility at Hosur in 2008-09. That was when Indian aircraft were sent to Sri Lanka and other regional MRO centers for C checks. Prior to that, Air Works assisted several government institutions in innovative projects relating to cloud seeding, payload experiments for India’s first satellite and retrofits for defense forces. Many people don’t know Air Works also operated passenger flights and was [involved in] export of livestock during the 1970s and 1980s.
In recent years, we’ve also had the privilege of maintaining VVIP aircraft for heads of state and [Boeing] P-8Is, the Indian Navy’s most advanced, offensive, [anti-submarine warfare] front line fleet of aircraft. Subsequently, we have also delivered LU-192 [light utilization] and HU-192 [heavy utilization] checks on Embraer ERJ-135 aircraft for the [Indian Air Force] and other paramilitary forces. These are the most comprehensive and difficult checks ever undertaken on this platform indigenously.
What are Air Works’ upcoming expansion plans in terms of facility and infrastructure, recruitment, investments or capabilities?
We’ve been evaluating several proposals to achieve a 'meeting-of-the-minds' that blends our past with our ambitious future, while continuing to deliver value to our shareholders. I am hopeful of sharing some good news on this aspect soon.
Air Works remains committed to capability and capacity expansion, while endeavoring to first juice our current infrastructure to the max. This year promises to be [an] exciting year and we plan to monetize certain global opportunities in both business and commercial aviation. Our focus will be to enhance our capabilities and approval matrix at Kochi for base maintenance; increase our share of end-of-lease projects from global lessors and customers; and complement our current capacities in painting and interiors. We have some exciting initiatives for training and career development in the pipeline this year.
Are there any new regulatory approvals in the cards this year?
Indeed. A steady growth in approvals and certifications reflects a healthy and thriving MRO business. Air Works has had both DGCA [India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation] and EASA approvals for many years and these have worked for almost all our clients from civilian aviation. Incidentally, we were the first independent MRO in India to secure EASA approval for our base at Hosur in Tamil Nadu. In fact, our latest EASA audit is ongoing, and its successful closure will mark 15 consecutive years of renewal. Over time, we have also been getting our line station network EASA certified.
We keep adding a host of civil aviation authority (CAA) approvals in line with our business strategy. Currently, Air Works has base maintenance approvals from 10 regional CAAs other than DGCA and EASA, and line maintenance approvals from CAAs of another 21 countries. I would like to point out that the actual number of approvals are far higher given the size of our line maintenance network as well as the various aircraft/engine type combinations, each of which require distinct approvals. For example, we added nearly 50 new approvals during the last financial year.
Air Works expanded its line maintenance services to Dubai in 2022. Is there other international expansion planned in the future?
Our India-based line maintenance operations are quite extensive, and as the country’s largest third-party international line maintenance service provider … we’re [providing services for] one of every three flights of foreign airlines that take off anywhere from India. We see significant opportunities to expand our domestic network even more.
Last year, we commenced operations in Kathmandu, Nepal, together with Siris Aircraft Maintenance Repair and Overhaul, in response to a specific ask from our customers. I am glad to share that our Nepal operations have stabilized and [are] inducting more clients. At the same time, Air Works continues to explore ways and business cases to further strengthen our presence in the [South Asian] region.
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