MRO Europe Panel: Turnaround Time Outweighs Price, 74% to 26%, as Operators Seek Longer-Term Agreements

At Aviation Week's MRO Europe in Amsterdam, a panel titled "Lessons for all: Navigating the MRO Landscape Across Business, LCC, Leisure and ACMI Aviation" discussed the needs of business, leisure and defense operators. An audience poll found that 74% of respondents prioritized turnaround time over price, which received 26% of the vote.

Frank Stevens, Embraer's global MRO services vice president, said delivering aircraft on time was fundamental to maintaining customer relationships, while competitive pricing remained important for securing repeat business. Oscar Pérez, Globalia Maintenance's managing director, said the cost of maintenance must be weighed against the consequences of poor turnaround times, particularly for operators dependent on aircraft availability.

The discussion also highlighted a shift toward longer-term maintenance agreements, driven partly by a shortage of available slots, particularly in Europe. Pérez said customers were increasingly seeking predictable access to future maintenance capacity rather than simply negotiating individual slots or the best price. Paul Kinch, Gama Aviation's MRO services managing director, said some smaller business aviation operators may approach several MROs for the same maintenance requirement, sometimes repeatedly within a week, making it difficult for providers to decide whether to commit to the work.

Parts availability and labor remain important constraints on turnaround times. Stevens said an aircraft might arrive with 98% of the required parts available, but the remaining 2% could keep it grounded. Short-notice maintenance can also leave providers without sufficient labor, even when parts are available. He stressed communicating delays and requirements to customers as early as possible to help manage expectations. Embraer is developing software to improve customer communication, including an application that allows operators to review discrepancies and approve parts purchases.

Seasonal demand is another challenge, particularly for providers serving leisure airlines and business aviation. Pérez said Globalia Maintenance was adjusting workforce availability during peak summer periods while diversifying its customer base to balance demand across the year. Gama Aviation also shifts maintenance activity between customer segments to make better use of its facilities.

The poll result and the panelists' comments point the same way: for operators whose revenue depends on aircraft availability, the cost of a late release outweighs a lower quote. That changes what an MRO sells. Capacity that can be reserved in advance becomes the product, which helps explain why customers are asking for longer-term agreements when slots are scarce in Europe.

Stevens' 98% example shows how narrow the margin is. A single missing part, or too few technicians on a short-notice job, can undo an otherwise complete preparation. Seasonal swings in leisure and business demand add to this, which is why providers such as Globalia Maintenance and Gama Aviation are rebalancing workforce and customer mix across the year. The repeated multi-MRO enquiries Kinch described also show the cost to providers of committing capacity to requests that may never convert.

Component repair was the one area the panelists unanimously named as having potential for the aftermarket over the next five years. They cited localized shortages and the chance to keep more component work within Europe, reducing reliance on shipping parts over longer distances.