AAR COO John Holmes Delivers Keynote at MRO Network Airline, Engineering & Maintenance North America Conference

Other AAR thought leaders on panels about turning aftermarket trends into opportunities

CHICAGO, September 16, 2015 – Thought leaders from AAR’s Aviation Services business will convene with some of North America’s leading airlines, OEMs and aftermarket service providers to discuss “Identifying and Exploiting Opportunities in a Mature MRO Market” at the Airline Engine & Maintenance conference September 16-17 at the Gwen Hotel.

AAR is lead sponsor of the forum developed by MRO Network, a media company that gives voice to industry professionals who work for airlines, aircraft MROs, OEMs, aircraft lessors and financiers, suppliers and others in the field. The conference is expected to draw more than 100 industry executives from across the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.

AAR Chief Operating Officer John Holmes will open the conference with a keynote address Wednesday at 9:40 a.m. Holmes will share his views on topics that will be covered throughout the two-day event, including the impact of lower fuel prices on aircraft retirement; predictive maintenance and IT tools; spare parts surplus and the impact on profitability; increasing passenger expectations and upgrades; and value-added strategies to ensure providers retain and expand their share of the market.

Also Wednesday, at 11:40 a.m. Troy Jonas, Vice President – Repair and Engineering for AAR’s 1MRO Network of five aircraft repair facilities,will participate on the panel “Right-Shoring as the New Outsourcing,” which will explore opportunities for maintenance providers to invest in home-grown facilities with wide-body work returning to North America.

Then, at 2 p.m., Carl Glover, Vice President of AAR’s Engine Group, will be on the panel “The Changing Face of the Spare Parts Market,” a look at the impact of new players in the industry and aircraft retirements on the spare parts market, its competitiveness and profitability.

On Thursday, Kevin Larson, AAR’s Chief Information Officer, who headed up development of the Company’s technology platforms for inventory management and aircraft repair, will participate in the discussion “Advances in MRO IT” at 2:30 p.m.

Other topics to be addressed at the conference include optimizing inventory management; engines – repair or replace; the impact of aircraft leasing on MRO; mature engine management; and how OEMs getting back in the repair business can impact third-party providers.

“Airlines continue to outsource more and more aftermarket services to third-parties, but the emergence of new players in the market, technology and OEMs efforts to increase their share of the aftermarket requires renewed focus on cost-saving strategies and integration of value-add capabilities,” Holmes said. “It’s an exciting time for the North American aviation aftermarket, and I look forward to a robust exchange of ideas with other industry thought leaders.”