Azerbaijan Airlines wanted to rebrand its fleet of 18 aircraft and selected A J Walter Aviation, best known for component support, to managing the effort. AJW Group tapped Eirtech Aviation to paint the fleet. Nine months earlier, in November 2012, A J Walter bought two new A340-500s from Airbus that it repainted and reconfigured for use by Azerbaijan Airlines. Deepak Sharma, technical director at A J Walter, told Aviation Week that the company will continue to look beyond its traditional core capabilities.

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.

Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Bedek Aviation Group has signed licensing agreements with Boeing to perform modifications of 767-200/300s and 747-400s, including passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversions. The agreements apply to 72 767-200/300s and 29 747-400s that were previously converted by IAI for various customers, as well as future IAI conversions, the Israeli company says in a statement. Bedek has been a Boeing licensee for P2F conversions of the 737-300/400 since 2010.

Aviation stakeholders should contemplate a slower-growth future--including lower maintenance expenditures.

During a recent visit with a cousin in Greensboro, N.C., the subject of Honda Aircraft came up. He mentioned how important the planemaker was to the community as a source of jobs, tax revenue and pride. Their jets are apparently very popular, he said. To which I responded, “quite possibly.” A comment he found curious. “Well, they haven't actually delivered any yet,” I explained. “None?!” He was surprised, almost flabbergasted.

Meanwhile, at Timco Aviation Services, located next door to Honda, a group of 20 new graduates from Guilford Technical Community College just completed initial training at the heavy jet MRO outfit. Timco regularly hires from the nearby tech college. And with good reason. Pete Laszca, general manager for the MRO operations, cites the high demand for qualified aircraft techs. That situation is getting a lot of industry attention.

Transport Canada has ordered Bombardier CRJ700, CRJ900 and CRJ1000 operators to modify slat components to prevent failure of a pin that could cause the related slat to break away. The directive (CF-2013-31), which is effective Oct. 22, gives operators 6,000 flight hours or 30 months, whichever comes first, to replace locking plates with “an anti-migration assembly” on both the left-and right-wing No. 3 slats.

The demand for British civil aftermarket work is expected to grow in the next decade, but most startups face an uphill struggle to enter a market being squeezed by OEMs. To add to their headaches, the current shortage of skilled engineering labor is set to worsen in the next decade or two, while the trend of partnering with OEMs offers a double-edged sword: MRO providers can gain reliable work from a handful of big customers—but only while it lasts.