Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. (JAL) have agreed to commence joint exploration of potential collaboration in the aircraft aftermarket business. The two companies have signed a memorandum (MoU) on the matter.
The aircraft aftermarket business is a business that provides services such as repairs, maintenance, parts supply, and refurbishment necessary after the manufacture and sale of aircraft, and plays an important role in maintaining and improving aircraft safety and operational efficiency.
With the global recovery in aircraft demand, the need for maintenance services has also increased. JAL and MHI have begun exploring collaboration in this area in order to respond to the various issues currently affecting the aircraft aftermarket.
In 2019, when Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was working on the development of the Mitsubishi Space Jet (MSJ), a domestically produced jetliner, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries decided to acquire the CRJ small aircraft business of Bombardier of Canada.
The aim was to lead to the maintenance and sales of MSJ. Currently, the company is developing its business as the MHIRJ Aviation Group, and is engaged in MRO (repair and maintenance) of aircraft aircraft.
JAL Group, as an aircraft operator, brings expertise and experience in aircraft operation and maintenance, while MHI Group, as an aircraft manufacture, contributes with its expertise and experience in aircraft design development, manufacture, certification, and MRO (maintenance, repair & overhaul) services particularly in North America.
Within JAL Group, going forward the joint exploration of collaboration will be performed by JAL Engineering Co., Ltd. (JALEC), which is in charge of aircraft maintenance. Meanwhile JAL and MHI will continue their current exploration underway toward expanding cooperation in human resources development and technology development relating to the aircraft industry.
This collaboration promises to strengthen both companies' position in the aircraft aftermarket, leveraging JAL's combined knowledge in operations and maintenance, and MHI's in manufacturing and MRO services.
In another development in May this year, JAL and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries signed an agreement to use the lightning avoidance judgment support service “Lilac,” and introduced it to domestic airports from 2024/4.
Through joint research between JAL and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, an AI prediction model has been developed, and it is now possible to predict positions with high accuracy that are likely to be hit by lightning during flight.
The abandoned SpaceJet (formerly MRJ) regional jet program, that was aimed at competing Embraer’s E-Jet family, is still very fresh a setback for the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) group. This new aviation business initiative could bring some relief to the company's ambitions, to maintain itself as an industry insider.
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