The case of fake jet engine parts calls for supply chain reforms

Aerospace companies should expand the use of more secure digital records, strengthen supplier accreditation and improve traceability of a component’s authenticity to keep unauthorized parts out of airline fleets, the Coalition for Aviation Supply Chain Integrity said in a report Wednesday.

The group, which also includes Boeing Co., Safran SA, Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc., issued the recommendations following a nine-month review of supply risks posed by a little-known UK distributor believed to have sold thousands of jet engine spare parts with records of falsified airworthiness.

Bloomberg News first reported in 2023 how maintenance shops, airlines and aerospace manufacturers hunted down suspect parts linked to AOG Technics Ltd, which a British government website shows are still active. Carriers from China to the US and Europe have been forced to take planes out of service and extract dubious components, leaving planes on the ground and racking up millions of dollars in costs.

The coalition also recommended longer-term goals, such as building databases for vendors to verify their identities and store records to track a part’s history since it was first manufactured, among others steps.

Coalition recommendations are voluntary. Coalition co-chairs Robert Sumwalt, former chairman of the US National Transportation Safety Board, and John Porcari, former deputy secretary of the US Department of Transportation, said they were working with US and European regulators to implement the measures.