Webinar  •  COVID-19  •  Event report  •  Committees Supply chain  •  Aéronautique - Aérospatiale

4/24 Committee Report: The Current Situation in Aerospace

The Aerospace Committee gathered for virtual meetings in April to discuss how their companies are responding to the current crisis.

Aircraft Lease Segment in COVID-19 Era – Beth de Young

Beth DeYoung, VP Business Development – Interiors – Lease Customers at SAFRAN, gave us a presentation about the aircraft lease market. The role of lessors in the industry has been growing constantly since 2016 and represents approximately 50% of aircraft funding sources for airlines.

The aircraft lessors have a vital role in the industry. They bring stability by easing aircraft supply and demand and offer multiple sources of expertise, such as: raising capital, risk management, fleet planning and optimization.

Due to the Covid-19 crisis, it is the first time the lease Ends will exceed lease Starts. The factors for success for the lease companies will be based in their capacity for resilience. Lessors with enough maturity (experienced teams) and enough liquidity will be the best situated to survive the crisis.

Key Factors of Resilience

The notion of consolidation in the aerospace industry was a common theme throughout the presentations. As many companies might soon lack of cash flow, some Tier One and Tier Two companies that want to avoid any ruptures in their supply chain could step in and have a role in the consolidation.

Key factors of resilience were also a common theme throughout the meeting, including:

  1. Solidarity between tiers One and Two and their suppliers by meeting with them frequently to be aware of their concerns.
  2. Reactivity: crisis management planning, looking to maintain cash flow capacity through government funding, furloughs to keep the talents, and looking for new markets.
  3. Communication:
    • As there is no model for this crisis, OEMs struggle to communicate what the next steps could be.
    • This lack of communication obliges each supplier to make their own previsions. But if the previsions or companies throughout the supply chain are not aligned when the economy restarts, there will be disruptions.
    • There is a need to communicate more altogether in the industry about the forecasts so each company can have the same level of preparation.

Resources for Businesses

The Washington State Department of Commerce shares a lot of resources that may be helpful during this period. Click on the links to learn more.

  1. State Export Voucher Program (STEP)
  2. How You Can Help: Info for Companies Interested in making PPE
  3. Example of Companies Accessing a New Market: Ventilator Challenge UK
  4. Unemployment information from the Employment Security Department (ESD):

The FACC-PNW is also here to support you during this crisis. This report and other useful information for Washington State and Oregon are available on the "News" section of the FACC-PNW website. Have a question or have news you want to share with our network? Contact us by replying to this email.

Next Virtual Meeting: May 22 at 12 PM

During this period, where information is changing on a daily basis, we plan to organize another Aerospace Committee webinar on May 22, 2020 from 12-1 pm so we can see how the current crisis has evolved. Please write us at info(@)faccpnw.org if you want to share how your company is mitigating the situation or if you want to provide a short presentation/analysis on other topics.

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