The Surplus Parts Market A Force Of Stability

In a recent article in AINonline "Surplus Parts Costs Forecast To Drop" it was suggested that prices will go down as more and more aircraft are parted out pushing "the current prices downwards making the already tense market even more competitive".

In principle, this is true to a certain extent.

Boeing and Airbus have both announced production rate increases on their current aircraft types.   Taking into consideration that as an aircraft type evolves and technology improvements are introduced; parts interchangeability is no longer maintained between the latest aircraft off the production line and an aircraft produced 2 or 4 years earlier. This is valid especially for avionics components, where software changes are the most common.

OEMs have to meet both the challenge of  supporting the production rate increases and that of supplying parts to support the industry with the latest and earlier component configurations; this will impose production pressures and supply difficulties.

As the number of retired aircraft increases to almost a 1000 aircraft per year in the next decade, so will the number of part-outs and the availability of surplus parts. However, these surplus components and parts will not support the latest and recent configurations of the active fleet, but will support the earlier and older configuration versions.

The availability of surplus parts for mature aircraft configurations of the popular fleets will tend to;

• ease off the pressure for OEMs to support the earlier aircraft configurations; and
• reduce prices in the aftermarket as a whole but remain competitive for avionics components and a variety of other parts.

The surplus market is detrimental in maintaining a stable components and parts supply for the mature aircraft.

ASA Twentieth Anniversay

Last week I had the privilege of attending the Aviation Suppliers Association (ASA) annual conference, from the 9th to the 11th of July 2013 in Las Vegas which also marked the association's Twentieth Anniversary.

Having worked for airlines and MROs dealing with approved vendor lists and suppliers' approvals, one becomes very familiar with the ASA-100 Quality System Standard, one of the most respected supplier certifications based on the FAA's AC 00-56A (Voluntary Industry Distributor Accreditation Program).
ASA maintains and ensures that the quality standard is updated and is rigorously applied.

One day in the conference is dedicated to the Quality Committee, where quality issues ranging from common audit findings and updates to the standards (ASA-100/ISO9001/AS9100/AS9120) to Law Enforcement Initiatives were discussed. ASA is not only an accreditation body, it is also an advocate for the industry on issues such as Counterfeit Parts, PMA Parts to FAA Part 21 and Designee policy among others. The association ensures the views of its members and the suppliers community on the whole are heard, proactively helping to shape regulations and policies.

Another aspect of the conference is the time dedicated to workshops and training, a total of eight (8) workshops in two (2) days.

On a personal note, the conference provided me with a unique insight of the hard work ASA does, not only to maintain the standard and support it with training but the advocacy work it does to defend the interests of the industry and its members.

And as Ms Dickstein, the association's President, said What happens in Vegas this time does not have to stay in Vegas and I totally agree.

Kudos ASA and Congratulations, keep up the good work.