Gallery: Coronavirus’ Global Impact On MRO

James Pozzi Lee Ann Shay Lindsay Bjerregaard Henry Canaday March 26, 2020

Credit: MROs Warned To Expect A Raft Of Order Cancellations

Credit: Lee Ann Shay/Aviation Week
Aviation Week's Lee Ann Shay reports that airlines are drastically cutting their passenger flights in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Credit Suisse estimates airlines could slash available seat kilometers by 70% in the second quarter of 2020.

Lufthansa Technik Sees Immediate COVID-19 Impact

Credit: Lufthansa Technik
Lufthansa Technik says that the extent of the effects of the COVID-19-driven aviation crisis on the company cannot yet be concretely foreseen but states the immediate impact has already been largescale. As of this week, Lufthansa Technik’s global network, which spans Europe, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and North America, is operating at what it describes as a stable level.

AFI KLM E&M Assessing Situation

Credit: AFI KLM E&M
The MRO says it is doing its best to maintain the operations of customers but is assessing the ever-changing situation on a daily basis. Its shops in France and the Netherlands are still running as of March 2020.
Credit: Alitalia
The airline has been gradually bringing more maintenance work in-house.

MTU Maintenance To Halt German Operations Next Month

MTU Maintenance will temporarily suspend its MRO operations in Hannover and Berlin in early April in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The shutdown at its Hannover and Berlin engine shops will last for approximately three weeks.

HAECO Redeploys Line Staff, Activates Contingency Plan

Credit: HAECO
With many line stations in China including Wuhan, HAECO activated a contingency plan in January. This included implementing a series of measures including temperature checks for all employees and customers, increased personal hygiene standards, more stringent operating procedures, protective gear where required, enhanced cleaning of public areas and facilities, declaration by individuals of their travel history and self-quarantining of individuals where appropriate. It also redeployed line maintenance technicians from China to other parts of its operation due to the drop in maintenance demand.

Etihad Airways Engineering Continues Some Shop Work But With Adjustments

Credit: Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways Engineering says it had a good flow of work in its shops before the coronavirus outbreak, but nevertheless, has had to adjust its setup. This has included a sizeable number of its staff working from home.

Coronavirus Delays Airbus-Thai Airways U-Tapao JV Bid

Credit: Airbus
The proposed bidding for the Airbus-Thai Airways U-Tapao MRO joint venture has been postponed until April after the airframe OEM failed to submit its proposal, which local media attributed to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Chinese MRO Operations Resume

Credit: Hangxin Aviation Services
Having recorded the first outbreak of COVID-19 virus in January, the impact on China's MRO industry preceded that of the rest of the world. However, encouragingly for the west, many of China's MRO facilities resumed operations the following month. These included Hangxin Aviation Services, which resumed around 90% of MRO capacity by mid-February.

GMF AeroAsia Sees Uptick In MRO Demand

Credit: GMF AeroAsia
While MRO in China has gradually recovered, the past few months have made it difficult for non-Chinese airlines to gain access to the country. This has led to a surge in demand for maintenance providers in neighboring countries such as GMF AeroAsia of Indonesia.

The coronavirus has had a seismic effect on the aviation industry across the world. Here’s a look at its impact on the commercial aviation aftermarket.

James Pozzi

As Aviation Week's MRO Editor EMEA, James Pozzi covers the latest industry news from the European region and beyond. He also writes in-depth features on the commercial aftermarket for Inside MRO.

Lee Ann Shay

As executive editor of MRO and business aviation, Lee Ann Shay directs Aviation Week's coverage of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), including Inside MRO, and business aviation, including BCA.

Lindsay Bjerregaard

Lindsay Bjerregaard is managing editor for Aviation Week’s MRO portfolio. Her coverage focuses on MRO technology, workforce, and product and service news for MRO Digest, Inside MRO and Aviation Week Marketplace.

Henry Canaday