The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent reduction of airline traffic has had a varying effect on GSE refurbs.
On one hand, less flights means less everyday wear and tear on equipment. But on the other, it has been easier to remove equipment from service.
“In some cases, furloughs and layoffs would have impacted the ability to keep up with regular maintenance requirements – let alone add refurbishments to the task saturated GSE workflow. Companies who did not lose employees could have efficiently done refurbishments if their financial forecasts allowed,” says Matt Weitzel, regional sales manager at Xcēd.
“The pandemic could have also accelerated the retirement of older, more costly to maintain GSE and any excess equipment could have been scrapped and used for parts,” he adds. “Supply chains were stretched very thin, so cannibalizing older equipment would have been a way to combat parts shortages.”
According to Terry Bosserman, president of ProFlo Industries, a PrimeFlight company, refurbishment business has continued to increase during the pandemic as customers look for ways to reduce costs without impacting their operations.
“Leveraging refurbished equipment in place of brand-new equipment is one way to do that,” he points out. “The pandemic has also resulted in additional used equipment being released for sale as lower volumes require less equipment. This inventory has been used as refurbishment cores.”
Officials at Mallaghan GSE say the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the number of customer enquiries for GSE unit retrofits and refurbs, providing opportunities to support customers’ recovery and growth.
At Ramp Communications, where lead technician Chantel Donaldson’s team repairs headsets, there was a dip in repair volume in the spring and summer of 2020 due to reduced flight traffic. However, inbound shelves were never empty.
“We have not noticed a change in the number of units close to end of life. We repair any headset as long as it is cost-effective to do so,” Donaldson says. “We are seeing repair volume picking up quickly.”
Overall, explains Weitzel, a re-balancing of GSE has and will continue to take place as the result of the global pandemic. How much depends on how GSE fits into a company’s recovery strategy.
