Western parts inventory grows

The Integrated Vehicle Health Management Center at England's Cranfield University was founded five years ago, after a proposal for it won an international competition sponsored by Boeing.

In the aircraft parts world, speed matters. If properly applied, it reduces inventory, saves money and assures components are where they need to be when they are needed. The trick is flowing those parts through the system more quickly. That is the aim of Southwest Airlines' recently initiated “Project Velocity,” an effort that promises a 5-7% reduction in per-aircraft parts inventory, according to Peter Requa, director of supply chain management. “We expect to take our per-aircraft inventory down from $650,000 . . . to $610,000 or $600,000,” he says.

Surplus parts, once an afterthought, are shaping MRO strategies

Demand for British aftermarket work expected to grow but startups face uphill struggle

Climate change is fueling a race for once-inaccessible Arctic resources, but the rapidly thawing ice poses a growing risk of accelerating global warming by releasing huge stores of eons-old carbon into the atmosphere. Unmanned aircraft are beginning to play a key role in monitoring the changes in these vast and remote areas.

Industry has become used to first orders coming from the Middle East

While campaign promises must always be viewed cautiously, it appears that the overthrow of Australia's Labor government will benefit airlines in a few key areas. Most notably, the new Liberal-National Coalition government has signaled that it will throw out a carbon tax that has been severely hurting airline profits.