Jetrader - Summer 2016 - 16

as parts then selling it as a flying plane,
and then it will switch the other way again.
There are too many parts on the market,"
he says. "You'd do better selling it as a
flying plane than to break it into spare
parts because there are not many of the
aircraft out there. You need to keep some
of the aircraft operational to consume all
those parts. And then it will go the other
way, three or four times until eventually it
just flatlines, which means to say there's
no value in the aircraft, no value in the
parts, and the whole lot is scrap metal."
Recently, Gregory has picked up contracts with four airlines to support their
aging aircraft with their own parts. "An
operator will come to us with one of their
older aircraft," he says from his center of
operations in the United Kingdom. "We
bring the aircraft in and we dismantle it
for them, and parts are coming off and
being returned to the airline as serviceable. Then the airline has got their own
parts on the shelf."
Airlines are supporting their entire
fleets this way. Gregory says it's a gold
mine for them, and it must hit MROs and

OEMs, because all maintenance is being
done in-house.
Celikel and Hervé at Aerobay say OEMs do
not want to see this competition, but some
accept losing part of the market share on
spare parts distribution to the secondhand
market, while others are more aggressive
and do not want to lose their market share
and are re-buying their own parts to recertify and resell them.
90 percent of an aircraft can be recycled
in the secondhand market, including the
engines, APUs, avionics, air conditionings,
fuel systems, hydraulics, and landing gears.
Celikel, whose background lies in how to
improve the profitability and environmental
footprint of aircraft recycling, says presently there are no international or European
regulations for aircraft recycling, though
there are regional or industrial initiatives
to improve aircraft end of life, such as best
practices by the Aircraft Fleet Recycling
Association or other innovative projects
by industry manufacturers.
Gregory, whose company helped develop
environmental standards set by AFRA,
agrees more emphasis needs to be placed

on recycling - recycling carbon fiber, recycling composite materials, and recycling
aircraft interiors.
Hervé at Aerobay says more thought
needs to be put into recycling and end
of life. "We are in the beginning of a new
way to work for the airline. We are at the
end of an aircraft cycle, and with the new
generation of aircraft, the airline or lessor,
when they operate an aircraft, they need
to forecast the end of life of the aircraft
earlier," he said.
"Unlike in the past when they would try
to operate an aircraft for a long time, now
after 10 or 12 years in the second part
of the life of the aircraft, they need to
forecast what would be the best solution
economically for the aircraft. Is it to keep
the aircraft and to continue to operate it?
Or do they prefer to resell it as a whole? Or
do they want to make the decision to dismantle it, because now there is a network
of dismantlers and recyclers in the world,
especially in North America and Europe,
and they have the opportunity to use this
as a solution to maximize the asset value
of their fleet?"

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