Aviation is a highly competitive industry. Whether it’s for sport, leisure, personal or business use, your aircraft (individually or collectively as a fleet) represent a huge source of investment, pose large risks and offer big opportunities. And along with those three imperatives comes the pressure to manage costs. That’s why more aircraft owners are turning to the use of refurbished aircraft parts to assuage these competitive pressures.
It takes more than hot air…
…to keep your fleet flying safely!
Sadly, that’s all that some parts dealers can offer you. With promises of on-time delivery and unlimited inventory, you may think you’re getting a good deal, but can you really stake it all on promises alone? With so much at stake, including lives, safety in the air should be your paramount concern.
Following a string of high-profile aviation incidents involving both large and small craft, regulators are also taking note. Aircraft safety has prompted stringent regulatory mandates for craft owners and operators. It has become impossible to keep the watchdogs at bay with hot air alone. Working with a reputable refurbished aircraft parts supply channel partner is the best way to stay “on side” with regulatory bodies.
The bane of AOG
Unscheduled and protracted Aircraft On Ground (AOG) instances can be particularly impactful to craft owners/operators, especially if the craft is not flight worthy because of parts shortages. Depending upon the length of time an ongoing AOG situation drags on for, it could cost craft owners hundreds or even thousands of extra dollars – money that you would not otherwise have spent.
While mint-condition OEM parts may be a desirable solution to prevent prolonged AOG situations, such parts are either too costly, difficult to source or come with extended lead times. Unlike refurbished aircraft parts, new components might also not be readily available for craft of a specific make, model or vintage. This predicament leaves large fleets of aircraft grounded for long periods, sending owners and repair crew scrambling to source the right part for a reasonable price within a realistic timeframe.
Owners of large fleet of aircraft have recourse to many practical maintenance strategies to keep AOG at minimum. Typically, maintenance crew will “borrow” a much-needed part from one craft, just to make sure another craft is up in the air on time to complete a scheduled trip. Sure, that move could potentially reduce AOG time for one craft – but it leaves the other grounded for an extended period.
“Borrowing” or “pirating” parts is a perfectly legitimate maintenance strategy. But, if you own a fleet of similar craft, you may soon find multiple craft grounded because their parts are now in use on a single craft that’s up in the air!
As an owner of a single sport, leisure or commercial craft, your best bet to reduce AOG time is to turn to refurbished aircraft parts to ensure you and your family and friends and your customers benefit from your craft for the longest possible time. Single-craft owners/operators don’t have the luxury of “pirating” or “borrowing”. So, if there’s a parts shortage that’s preventing your craft from becoming airworthy, then an extended AOG situation is all but unavoidable – or is it?
Regardless of whether you own a single craft or a fleet of them – there is an alternative. Tapping into a reliable source of authentic refurbished aircraft parts can help you keep all your craft in the air all the time!
Unbearable BER situations
At times, aircraft owners may face tough choices when striving to keep their craft flying. This predicament stems from having to decide whether to scrap and replace with either new components or refurbished aircraft parts, or to proceed with repairing, even if it’s a Beyond Economic Repair (BER) situation.
According to IATA guidelines:- (2nd Edition 2015, page 13)
“BER is defined as the ratio of repair cost to the value of the part at which a part is scrapped or repaired. If this ratio exceeds a predefined value, the part is considered as BER and will be scrapped”
All parts and components have a useful life that maintenance specialists recommend you typically should not (even if you can!) exceed. Some parts, once removed and sent to a maintenance shop, turn out to be too costly to repair. Often, in a Beyond Economic Repair (BER) situation, refurbished aircraft parts may be the most viable and cost-effective maintenance strategy.
Professionally repaired, refurbished and overhauled aircraft components and parts provide a dependable solution for aircraft owners/operators for whom BER scenarios are untenable. In most cases, even if the owner does decide to move ahead and repair a BER component, the quality of service and durability of the part could potentially be suspect.
Comparably, refurbished aircraft parts on the other hand offer better value for money. Here’s why:
- Typically, you may be tempted to accept the BER cost, and move forward with repairing a defective component when you compare that estimate to the catalogue price of an equivalent new part. That comparison is misleading! A truer “apples for apples” comparison would be to match BER estimates against similar-vintage pre-used or refurbished aircraft parts
- Even after your part returns following a BER maintenance “fix”, it isn’t restored “just like new”. The nature of component repair is such that reviving BER parts to “like new” form just isn’t possible! When you factor that reality into the equation, repaired and restored parts and components then become a better economic proposition to BER
- Finally, once a BER “fixed” part does make it back into service, it will likely need extra care, inspection, attention and monitoring throughout it’s time-on-wing (useful life) – more so than equivalent refurbished aircraft parts And all that additional Tender Love & Care (TLC) means more cost to the aircraft owner/operator!
The bottom line: Once you factor all these elements into the equation, using repaired BER components instead of refurbished aircraft parts may not be good for your bottom line after all! And that’s why more owners and operators look to form alliances and establish relationships with refurbished part dealers.
The math of refurbished aircraft parts
The math of extended fleet grounding, frequent unscheduled maintenance and regularly-disrupted schedules is simple: It costs money – lots of it! Refurbished aircraft parts and other repaired and fully-tested, reliable and airworthy components can save you a lot of money!
Ask any owner/operator and they’ll likely confirm that they would prefer as much as possible to avoid unnecessarily extended AOG scenarios. When you do an addition of all the associated costs, the math just won’t add up!
And, for BER situations, the math is even simpler. While the IATA guidelines suggest:
“A typical value for this {BER} threshold is set at 60-70% of the cost for replacement (i.e. catalog list price)…”
The organization also holds that:
“An industry practice is to scrap a part as long as it is BER”
What this means is that, when you do the math to work out the total cost of longer than necessary delays in getting your aircraft back in the air, or using parts that are uneconomical to repair and re-use, using refurbished aircraft parts will always be a more economical option. You just can’t work the numbers any other way!
But there’s more to it than simple math.
As with most industrial or commercial transactions, there’s usually more than just money at stake when it comes to not having an aircraft available on time, every time. At some point, something more valuable than money – your reputation as a dependable partner – will come into play. Whether it’s a sport craft, a personal flight aircraft or a commercial carrier, unscheduled disruptions in plans will also impact the individuals, groups and organizations depending on your craft (or fleet).
Having access to a reliable source of overhauled, repaired and refurbished aircraft parts gives you the peace of mind knowing your fleet will be in the air on-time – every time! While your partners – whether they are individuals, groups or commercial entities – will always give you top-line reviews, your bottom line will remain intact – and even continue to grow.
The PowerPacksPlus difference
So, what does an extended AOG situation mean to you? And is it worth while taking a risk to use BER “fixed” components instead of refurbished ones? These are key questions that only you can address when deciding on which maintenance strategy to adopt.
Whether you own a Beechcraft Single or Multi Engine craft, a Bellanca Viking, Rockwell Commander or a Piper Single or Twin Engine aircraft – it really doesn’t matter. We, here at PowerPacksPlus, have you covered with the widest selection of refurbished aircraft parts and the most experienced sales and advisory teams in the industry.
From Power Packs for a wide range of craft, to Electric Motors, A/C Compressors, Landing Gear, Fuel Selector Valves, we either stock them or have almost instantaneous access to the broadest array of refurbished aircraft parts that you can find anywhere. And, if you can’t find what you’re looking for anywhere else, we’ll use our vast network of contacts to source you exactly what you want – that’s our commitment to you.
Beyond “selling”
As an aircraft owner/operator, whether it’s just a single craft or an entire fleet of them, you want to establish relationships with a team of professionals that think “beyond selling”. And that’s exactly what our team of highly experienced aviation industry experts believe too. When you reach out to us to source your refurbished aircraft parts, you won’t receive any “sales pitches” like you would at a typical “parts reseller”.
The men and women at PowerPacksPlus have deep knowledge and experience of aircraft parts and components. And when you combine that with decades of collective knowledge of the aircraft industry, you have an expectation of deeply personalized service – and that’s precisely what our team are trained to offer!
The refurbished aircraft parts business isn’t exactly like an auto-body shop, where mechanics are motivated to up-sell – whether it’s an Oil Filter or a set of spare tires. Most retail auto consumers don’t have the level of sophisticated knowledge about the parts and components that go into a vehicle. As a result, they are susceptible to dubious selling practices. But we service a clientele who are typically impervious to strong-arm selling!
As an aircraft owner or operator, we know that our customers are very discerning. And that’s why we never really favored the “selling” thing anyway! Our clients value highly objective, honest advice – and that’s exactly what you’ll get when you engage with one of our refurbished aircraft parts team members.
Experience that matters
Your aircraft represents a significant investment to you and, as a result, you’d like to source your parts only from a provider who appreciates that fact. Since our inception back in July 2005, our team has offered solution-focused resolutions to clients looking for refurbished aircraft parts. And that commitment is apparent in our pledge for:
“…providing the best possible solution to keep your business aircraft flying!”
Through the years, we’ve established deep ties with a wide range of aviation industry players – from aircraft manufacturers and OEMs of parts, to maintenance specialists and component repair shops. And it is precisely those ties that our refurbished aircraft parts customers can leverage when they partner with us.
Our partners include the entire gamut of “Who’s Who” of the commercial aircraft industry – from AIRBORNE and BEECH, to CESSNA, CRANE, KING AIR, LEAR, PIPER and beyond. Whether it’s back-ordered parts you need, or discontinued components of a specific vintage that you are looking for, our knowledgeable associates will be able to help you source them.
If there’s a source that can provide you the parts you need, chances are that we already have an established relationship with them. Our network will save you the time and hassle of building a fresh relationship with an unknown source. It also means you’ll automatically benefit from our specially negotiated commercial terms with those sources.
Having our experts on your team also means we’ll be able to source one-of-a-kind made-to-order items for your unique needs. But most of all, having a team of refurbished aircraft parts specialists that know the business, have knowledge of the industry, and speak and understand your “lingo” is critical to keeping those aircraft flying without turbulence!