Unlocking the Future of Aircraft Maintenance with Technology

Andrew Ibsen is a seasoned professional who leads maintenance processes and operations at British Airways JFK International Airport. His leadership skills and expertise in various management software solutions have helped him improve productivity and financial performance in all the operational aspects of his organization.

In an interview with Aerospace and Defense Review, Ibsen shares his insights on the emerging trends and challenges in the aerospace maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) space and how technology is helping mitigate these issues.

Roles and Responsibilities at British Airways

I have been a duty maintenance manager for British Airways at JFK International Airport for over two years, and I manage between seven to nine daily flights between Heathrow, Gatwick and JFK. I also lead the company contracts for nine other airlines for their ad hoc work, service checks and maintenance.

Significant Challenges Impacting the Market

Part traceability is crucial in line management, and recent issues with forged certificates have raised concerns. It is imperative to hold aircraft parts traceability to the highest standard and ensure the authenticity and authorization of every part used in the aircraft. Other significant challenges include labor shortages and limited access to tools for the operational team on sight. 

Finding qualified personnel with the right certifications and licenses is becoming difficult in the industry.

“The advent of new technologies is helping people with minimal or no programming experience create applications for their environment, significantly saving time with mundane and repetitive tasks”

The aviation industry is experiencing a major shift in its workplace demographics. While the younger generation is open to welcoming technology into their operations, the older employees are hesitant to transform their operational style. This is a significant roadblock to adapting to the rapidly evolving market trends. 

Leading Trends and Technologies Mitigating the Issues

There is an increased reliance on technology in the aviation MRO space. The upper management is now providing the end user with more tools and resources to drive operations in the field. The advent of new technologies is helping people with minimal or no programming experience create applications for their environment, significantly saving time with mundane and repetitive tasks. By digitizing the aircraft assets on a distributed ledger, digital IDs can be given to every part, which can be scanned and accessed. Additionally, the development of AI-powered solutions with object detection capabilities also looks promising.

Leveraging these technologies has also helped me in a project where I created an in-house receipting system to manage my inventory and store systems by improving the traceability of various aircraft parts and transactions. I’m also trying to connect our SAP software in Heathrow with an app I created at JFK through scripting to streamline our inventory transactions. This will allow me to have transactions on file in a ready-made, easy-to-read, cost-efficient format and increase accountability as every user of the app logs in through their company ID.

Word of wisdom to peers and budding professionals

The industry is rapidly changing, and there is a huge influx of younger generations to the field. My advice to them is to value and learn from the experience of the older generation. Embrace their wisdom and work together to find common ground. Also, don’t fear change and maintain a positive attitude. Somebody with a good attitude and little experience is always better than someone with a lot of experience and a bad attitude.