For Jet MS, a global provider of base and line maintenance services for regional and business aircraft headquartered at Vilnius International airport, Lithuania and a family member of Avia Solutions Group, 2020 was a year for survival, 2021 a time for self-assessment and reorganisation, while 2022 holds the prospect of being a year for new opportunities and growth.

Despite the downturn in MRO demand driven by larger aircraft pre-pandemic, the company is confident that 2022 will bring opportunities still to be identified, along with market sectors that have already shown their hands. In early 2020, it claims that many in the aviation industry feared for the future of their livelihoods, but notes that aviation is driven by dedicated professionals with the ability to find opportunity even in the darkest scenarios.

CEO Vytis Zalimas says: “As a group of dedicated aviation professionals and as an integral family member of Avia Solutions Group, Jet MS has risen to tackle head on the challenges presented over the past two years. As evidence of our resilience, we will continue to meet any fresh challenges in the future while growing our presence and embracing new clients and new partnerships, and implementing improved procedures to meet those challenges. We also believe that the smaller players in the industry should actively cooperate, merge and grow in unison as a means of establishing themselves as vital and competitive players in the market. To reiterate our sentiments from 12 months ago, we still maintain that mergers and acquisitions build real value and create companies that can become meaningful players right across the entire aviation industry.”

2021 was a year of tumultuous change and uncertainty in all sectors of the aviation industry, during which Jet MS increased sold man-hours by 28 per cent and oversaw the growth of its employee base by a further 20 per cent. The company also witnessed new customer growth of 15 per cent.

To increase efficiency and better manage LEAN practices the company migrated to a new ERP system designed to increase the life-cycle of assets, utilise the better management of materials, purchasing strategies, workforce and labour assets, along with more efficient waste and energy management.

Also, the company undertook an end-of-year customer survey to evaluate levels of satisfaction and to better understand customer needs and pain points. In an industry where competition is fierce and stakes are high, the valuable feedback and meaningful insights received will be used to determine strengths and weaknesses as a means of further leveraging business growth.

In an overview of the market in 2021, Jet MS notes that despite the flat start to the year, the positive growth that was seen in early summer and continued into Q3 has been a welcome boost for the entire industry. However, many challenges still face the MRO industry as a collective. Uncertainty over inflation and interest rates, increasing energy and oil costs, the demand for growing salaries and the process of sourcing suitably qualified employees in the industry will all heavily impact the future of the MRO sector.

Another problematic factor is the sizeable shortfall in aircraft numbers, despite the increased demand for business jets. This sharp decrease in pre-owned aircraft for sale, the lowest level in 25 years, has been the norm throughout the Covid crisis, starting slowly in 2019 and increasing in magnitude during 2020 and 2021.

As aircraft steadily return to service post-storage, the MRO market is facing a major labour scarcity and the lost competencies that go with it, forcing many companies to instigate new strategies to attract new talent. Thankfully, even in the middle of the pandemic crisis, Jet MS managed to retain its core personnel and leverage their experience, knowledge and competence to help weather the storm successfully. Should a similar situation arise in the future, another way of lessening the impact of any labour shortage is through digitalisation and the utilisation of new and technologies; ERP systems are designed to better utilise materials, labour forces and time management and its implementation will help Jet MS to adapt quickly to an ever-changing business environment brought about by a global pandemic and changing work practices in the industry.

2022 will highlight the resilience of many in the aviation industry and the speed at which they managed to react to change claims the company. There will be a renewed drive towards fuel sustainability, meaning many future disruptive changes, along with greater opportunities for MRO organisations that are ready for the challenges.

It believes the interest in business aircraft is certain to maintain its momentum and afford additional opportunities for those with the vision to identify them. The fact is that people have become accustomed to the benefits afforded by business aviation and are unlikely to revert to former practices so long as the economy allows.