UK-based asset management specialist TGIS Aviation has received continuing airworthiness management organization (CAMO) approval from aviation authorities in the UK, San Marino, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, as well as 2-REG approval from the aviation authority in Guernsey.
“We started our CAMO approval process off the back of a few requests from our clients in the lessor community,” says Charlie Whyman, the firm’s recently appointed managing director. TGIS has been supporting lessors in managing aircraft and engine transactions for over two decades, and with CAMO services coming online, Whyman expects to offer a “cradle to grave” service by managing the entire process for operators.
While Whyman says aircraft transitions have decreased due to leases being extended [perhaps due to production delays at OEMs], TGIS sees plenty of interest in its engine management services. Several analysts suggest demand for CAMO services will rise as those aircraft transactions and new deliveries catch up. In February, Magnetic Engineering announced an expansion of its CAMO activities to support Airbus A220s and A350s. The company said the rising demand for new generation aircraft services was a key driving factor for obtaining the new capabilities.
Whyman believes a major benefit to the new approval from the client side is the added layer of credibility and gravitas it brings. She explains: “The market is becoming more competitive and there’s more demand for leasing companies to provide airworthiness records to the highest standard quickly and efficiently to the next operator. Even though our CAMO approval won’t change the quality of service we already offer, it will give our clients a far greater level of service and greater peace of mind.”
Aircraft and engine OEMs are having a tough time with product reliability issues, delays in production and supply chain disruptions. According to Whyman, delays in the production and supply of parts are extending the completion of maintenance inputs and transitions due to materials not being available to address defects.
“The global labor issues are also impacting technical response times from the aircraft and engine OEM which is also having an impact,” says Whyman. She adds that each of these delays has a knock-on effect on the next engine shop visit or aircraft hangar input, further compounding the situation. “Preplanning for any MRO input is increasingly critical in anticipating and mitigating these issues as much as possible,” she says.
TGIS observes that in-house airline and lessor technical teams are under a huge amount of pressure and stretched for time in a lot of cases. “Aside from making sure our clients are fully compliant and meet the requirements of the regulations, one of our key goals is to identify cost and time saving efficiencies,” says Whyman, noting that this takes the strain off technical teams.
“We always aim to identify more costs than we charge. For example, during one shop visit management project, we identified cost savings of $1 million on a single engine,” she says. Elsewhere, Whyman reports that TGIS identified over $15 million in savings for a start-up airline when negotiating lease terms because they did not have the technical expertise in-house to do so.
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