Making aerospace fly again

Full Five-Point Plan now available

As the week of Farnborough International Airshow arrives, we would normally be at the heart of the UK Pavilion promoting the advanced aerospace capabilities of members of the Midlands Aerospace Alliance, one of the largest regional networks internationally. But most of the aircraft that would normally fly thousands of delegates in from all over the world are on the ground, waiting until it is safe for global travel to resume.

With face-to-face gatherings still being minimised, two programmes of virtual conferences and meetings have replaced the normal show, organised by Farnborough International and Aviation Week. The big topic on everyone’s minds will be how we save aerospace.

With airlines cutting or suspending orders for new aircraft, the aerospace industry, which brings £36bn in revenue to the UK economy and provides over 250,000 high-value jobs, is being hit hard. Large and small companies have had no option but to downsize their operations and workforces rapidly.

Aerospace suppliers that make parts for varied aircraft programmes, and those that also supply other market sectors in the Midlands engineering supercluster, for example rail, should be in a stronger position than those dependent on the production of the large, long-haul civil aircraft that have been hardest hit and which the Midlands cluster is more dependent on than most. But conditions are tough for all.

Although these are unprecedented times and it’s therefore challenging to make reliable forecasts, we’re expecting the lowest point for the industry to come later in 2020 before demand begins to pick up in 2021. However, we anticipate that it could take until 2025 for the industry to recover and return to its previous growth trajectory.

We must therefore take decisive measures to ensure that aerospace supply chain companies survive this crisis and bounce back with capabilities, capacity and competitiveness intact. Action needs to take place nationally and regionally.

In the Midlands, we’re bringing together aerospace experts across industry, academia and government to work through the critical and complex issues, helping rescue, recover and regrow aerospace, as one.

We shared the outline of our Five Point Plan, recently, introducing the key actions we believe that are critical for the aerospace industry to take right now.

Today, we publish the full Five Point Plan which uses insight, research and deep industry knowledge to pinpoint the concrete actions that we believe are necessary for the supply chain. The plan will continue to evolve as the crisis develops to ensure we all continue to take the right steps to return to growth and prosperity.

Download your copy here.

Together, we can make aerospace fly again.