Prince Aviation CEO: No AI Can Replace the Technician, Industry Must Cooperate More
Why It MattersThe remarks highlight how spare-parts shortages, engineer scarcity and FAA-EASA regulatory gaps continue to strain MRO capacity and push the sector toward closer cross-organisational cooperation.
Srdjan Kragojevic, CEO of Prince Aviation, the only panelist at a recent industry event representing both an aircraft operator and a Part 145 maintenance organisation, set out his views on quality maintenance, commercial pressure, regulatory harmonisation and industry consolidation. He defined good maintenance as predictable and free of surprises: "If we quote three weeks and deliver in three weeks, that is quality maintenance."
On commercial pressure from owners demanding a fixed return date, Kragojevic said such pressure is legitimate only during the preparation and workscope-building phase, not once an aircraft is already in the hangar, noting that owners often end up "killing the messenger" when problems like corrosion are found. He identified three causes of delay largely outside an MRO's control: a global spare parts shortage, OEMs prioritising new production over the aftermarket, and a shrinking pool of experienced engineers, adding that "there is still no AI that can replace the technician."
On the FAA versus EASA regulatory debate, he cited a recent induction of a Citation M2 from the FAA register at Prince Aviation's Belgrade facility as an example of significant differences between the two systems, calling for greater dialogue and harmonisation and arguing that "the objective should not be less regulation, but smarter regulation." He also said the traditional man-hour quoting model is "a little obsolete," called for incentives to reduce ground time while maintaining performance, and urged closer cooperation between CAMOs and maintenance organisations.
Closing the panel, Kragojevic addressed industry consolidation, saying he would like it "to serve more than to control" and that the industry needs "to cooperate more than try to keep everything for ourselves." Prince Aviation is a Belgrade-based business jet MRO, charter and flight school group with more than 35 years of experience, operating Cessna XLS, XLS+, CJ and M2 jets and a single Falcon 2000LXS, and it recently added a Slovenian AOC for charter operations out of Ljubljana.
