A coalition has been established by leading companies in the aerospace sector, including Boeing and Airbus, to address the issue of unauthorized components entering the global aviation supply chain. This initiative was announced in a press release from GE Aerospace on February 22. The Aviation Supply Chain Integrity Coalition, as it is known, also counts among its founding members high-ranking officials from GE Aerospace, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Safran, StandardAero, and United Airlines.
This move is in response to incidents involving AOG Technics, which is accused of distributing thousands of non-certified engine parts with counterfeit documentation into the aerospace supply chain via engines produced by CFM International, a joint venture between GE Aerospace and Safran. An arrest has been made in relation to the investigation into AOG Technics.
The coalition aims to prevent future occurrences of such incidents. According to the press release, the situation involving AOG Technics affected less than 1% of CFM engines, largely due to the prompt response from the industry, with the majority of compromised parts being minor components such as bolts and washers. “The swift action by the aviation industry last year helped to mitigate the impact of fraudulent activities, but further efforts are necessary to ensure such breaches are prevented in the future,” said Robert Sumwalt, co-chair and executive director of Embry-Riddle’s Boeing Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety.
As of this month, the coalition has commenced operations and is conducting a 90-day review to identify ways to enhance the resilience of existing supply chain processes. The formation of the coalition comes against a backdrop of ongoing quality and supply chain challenges within the aerospace industry. For example, Boeing and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems have recently faced scrutiny following an incident with Alaska Airlines in early January, prompting increased oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration on Boeing’s production processes. Spirit AeroSystems has also been dealing with quality control issues for an extended period, leading to legal action from shareholders in December over persistent quality failures.
Additionally, aerospace supplier Pratt & Whitney announced earlier in the year a recall and inspection plan for a substantial number of its PW1100G engines due to a manufacturing defect, with RTX, its parent company, planning to withdraw approximately 200 engines by September and inspect another 1,000 engines over the following nine to twelve months.
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