Paint’s ultimate purpose is to give an aircraft protection against elements of various ranging temperatures, water, wind, salt spray and more. However, it is also the very first part of an aircraft someone sees and, first impressions are important. AMT talked to Julie Voisin, global marketing manager, Sherwin-Williams Aerospace; Emilie Harbour, lead designer, paint and interiors, West Star Aviation; Veta Traxler, paint and interior designer, West Star Aviation and Stephanie Kuhn, completions designer, Duncan Aviation, about how the current air traffic climate has negatively affected the industry as a whole, how the business aviation sector has actually never been busier and what design elements are trending today. We also touch on AMT’s 2021 Aircraft Paints and Coatings survey, which launched early in 2021, asking facilities about their use of paints and coatings.
AMT: Our more than 200 respondents noted that workforce availability and skill level of workers are significant concerns. Clearly the market needs more and better-qualified and trained painters and technicians. How does a company like Sherwin-Williams view these concerns and what is the industry doing to help fill this need?
Voisin: The industry has just added a training program for painters and a certification program that painters can go through. This allows them to provide some skill consistency. A lot of times, painters are trained by those that are in the shop. Therefore, if you are at a facility, what your capabilities are and what you've been trained on, could be inconsistent. Sherwin-William offers training, but we do it onsite. When we come out to the shop, we can adapt processes or try to optimize things for each customer's particular situation. Your booth is different than someone else's booth, and your skill level is different than someone else's skill level. So, we try to figure out how to optimize it for your situation. Everyone has different size planes, different models, different cleaning processes.
AMT: Surprisingly, the survey found that price was not one of the top five factors when considering a paint supplier. Durability and ease-of-use were the top two. Why are key points like durability and ease of use so important to users?
Voisin: You have to keep in mind that the cost of the paint isn't as critical as the labor put in. Getting something on there efficiently and having it last benefits them much more than the actual can of paint. That is why price is important, but not as critical; because being assured that their customer has a lasting appearance and being able to do it in an efficient way is where the benefit comes from.
AMT: What new offerings does Sherwin-Williams have and what are you working on for the future?
Voisin: One of the products that we're real excited about, which we launched in the last year, is our JetPen product. It’s a touch-up pen that's available in a variety of systems and colors. It has multiple uses. It can be used at the maintenance facility when doing some quick touch ups, but also can be used at the customer site later. Maybe the customer has a ding or a scratch and just want to do some quick fill in with product. It’s super simple, even I can do it.
AMT: More than 40% of our survey takers said that they have been impacted by COVID-19. In what ways do you think the pandemic has affected the aircraft painting business?
Voisin: It's like once you've gone private, there's no going back. I really wonder, once people have that top-notch experience, that it will be hard to get back on a commercial airline. But, I do see it as a trend. I think that it's going to be a while before everyone feels comfortable again. The commercial airline industry has just been hammered, but the business jet usage has somewhat improved because people are looking for options.
Traxler: At West Star, I would say in regards to paint, we are busy, if not busier, than we have ever been. That’s mostly because you have a lot of people, especially new buyers, coming into the industry because they no longer want to deal with commercial travel. When you buy a new aircraft, you want to personalize it to your own taste. We are booked two months out or more for paint. It's one of those things that we're just busier and just trying to find ways to be able to accommodate all the new aircraft that are coming on the market.
Harbour: We seem to be seeing aircraft a lot sooner than what we normally would, because people aren't traveling. They're like, "why don't we get it serviced sooner? Why don't we get it painted sooner?" So, I would say we are swamped.
Kuhn: As far as paint, we've been quite busy. I think at the beginning of the pandemic a lot of people were not flying. So, they were using that time for maintenance, paint and updating the interior. We did see quite a bit of that. I think the whole world's been impacted by this and we fortunately have not seen too much loss of business. We know many owners that would fly commercial just because of the cost of fuel. I think those days are gone. The cost savings took a back seat to being safe and healthy.
People might've found convenience and they'll continue doing the same routine they adopted this last year. Maybe it's something that they hadn't utilized in the past and now they're enjoying and appreciating those conveniences. I feel like there will be a new market of people that are flying private. The market has definitely changed the way people travel.
AMT: What are business aircraft operators asking for in regard to exterior paint? Do they want plain colors, creative designs, bold colors, toned down colors? What is trending?
Harbour: I've definitely been getting a lot more people who want to think outside the box. They want something that when they arrive on a ramp, it grabs people's attention. They also rely heavily on us for our expertise with the options that are up and coming, yet still tasteful. They want to make sure at the end of the day, they could sell it if necessary. But I definitely see more and more of, “show me something exciting. Show me something that you personally would like to have for your plane.” That gives us creative liberty, which is always what we strive for.
Kuhn: We've been seeing sleeker, simpler designs. It has a lot to do with the owner's personality. We work through a design process with them to figure out what it is that they are wanting to achieve at the end. We have customers that maybe have a high profile and want to play the exterior low key, so it doesn't bring attention to themselves. And then we have others that are very proud of their aircraft and want to show it off and make it very dynamic. We are seeing a lot more requests for metallics. But we all know what metallics do to the avionics. So, we steer clear of that, if we can. Obviously, there are some projects that that's what they want. And unfortunately, it does play an effect to where we put those stripes and how we do the final layout. But ultimately, I think that the sparkle effect is what is requested the most.
AMT: Piggybacking off of that, have you had any real standout projects recently and why have they stood out?
Harbour: We just finished two global projects that left here with full paint and interior work, and they wanted something completely out of the ordinary. It was mixture of gray metallic, red metallic and black all over; not a single ounce of white was found on that aircraft at the end. It is simply stunning. It's definitely been a showpiece for us, and it was a great way to kick off 2021.
Traxler: We also did a global that the customer wanted it to look like a dragon. So, it faded from a dark green into a charcoal and then the entire tail was hexagons that looked like scales. Each one had to be hand sprayed and faded individually. However, some of the aircraft that show a lot of ramp presence are simple schemes, but they've done custom colors that make the aircraft really beautiful. We're working on one right now that won't deliver until summertime, but it's already getting a lot of attention, it has no white on it at all. It's all metallic and two colors. Those are getting a lot of popularity, getting away from the base white.
Kuhn: We've had a couple requests for full paint, full pearl or a metallic paint cover. Many paint jobs have more than just a few stripes; a lot of customers like that belly color, and then bringing it up to the tail; just a lot of coverage for a darker, more rich dynamic color. Additionally, we have had requests for carbon fiber painted print patterns on whether it's a tail or a piece of the aircraft or even the mask where it covers the windows, the flight deck windows and then comes to a point somewhere on the body of their aircraft.
AMT: What new types of paint equipment or technology does the industry offer and what are the benefits?
Voisin: As far as technology, I think it's about trying to come up with environmental improvements so that we can drive down the VOCs and the hazardous materials. It's also coming up with more color solutions. We got to keep expanding and offer new things. And then coming up with process improvements, ways to put down thinner films and faster. So, those are kind of the three arenas that we really are trying to move the ball.
Harbour: I was just talking to our paint shop manager the other day and he was mentioning trying to go more green. So, that would entail chrome-free paint systems. Primer systems that have no chrome or low chrome, getting away from aladine and hex-based primers. I think that's something that they're trying to push towards.
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AMT: Does anyone have any predictions that they can share about what the future may have in store for the aircraft paint market?
Traxler: I think trends are hard to predict, especially in the aviation market. Somebody has to have the courage enough to put it out there. And once people see it, they feel more comfortable doing it. And that's with interior or exterior. A lot of times it's the OEMs who are setting trends for the aftermarket. But it just takes one person to do something unique and for it to catch fire.
Voisin: The aviation market in general is conservative. Sometimes can be one of the last to adopt new things. I think that has a lot to do with the expense of the asset. “So, I'm going to go repaint my car.” That doesn't cost as much as, “I need to go repaint my whole airplane.” There is a huge dollar difference and a huge amount of time and resources involved. We tend to follow other marketplaces; maybe it's automotive, maybe it's the architectural market. We tend to follow others because of that.
Kuhn: We get a lot of requests for that sparkle effect and we're getting more and more. People are going away from the solid colors and want that “wow” factor. We do our best to steer them towards more of a pearl versus metallics. If I had that crystal ball it would be to have products that would be available that gave that sparkly effect…that gave that “wow” impression, but was safer for electronics and avionics. We wouldn't have to necessarily be considerate of where we're laying out the stripes to avoid those such areas that are more sensitive than others. We usually come to the table with the pearls. Most of the time, that satisfies the customer's needs, but we're seeing more and more there are some customers that just want a bigger punch. That’s when we pull out the metallics, reluctantly. But we also have to explain that these will be limited to where we can paint them. So, if it's a small area or a stripe that we can avoid those sensitive areas, then we do move forward with it. I'm hoping someday that there would be some product out there that will give them that same effect and yet allow us to be free with our designs.
AMT: Could you share a little bit of your process in creating designs with clients to completion?
Traxler: A lot of times customers will show us pictures of stuff they've seen on the ramp or on the internet and they'll say, " I like this element of this one, but I like this element of this one." And then we create a scheme that brings all the elements and aspects that they like into one design. Sometimes we're working directly with the end user and then sometimes we're working with the director of maintenance and who then who gives feedback between there. Sometimes I don't have a paint scheme finalized until I say, "Okay, tomorrow is layouts. This is your last chance. Otherwise, you're going to get bumped to the next scheme, or next paint slot." It's always different for a different customer and what they're looking for, but always a fun process.
AMT: Have you ever had a customer have their aircraft painted and they for some reason said, "Oh my, this is not what I thought it was going to be?"
Traxler: I had a Gulfstream that was a pretty simple scheme and the issue ended up being the color, not the design. It was metallic. The funny thing with metallics is the way they look in the sun and the way they look in the shade will always be different. Even though we gave the client spray outs and everything was approved…once it was completely done, he just didn't like it. So, we ended up repainting it something else.
Harbour: It was actually the exact same thing. We had them approve the spray outs. I want to say it was a medium silver metallic. The client loved the spray out. They loved looking at it in the sun, but when it was put on the aircraft, they thought it looked way too dark. What we ended up doing was we added a white shadow to their registration number and you wouldn't believe it, but just that small change to them made a world of difference. We were able to go ahead with the medium silver metallic. It is funny to see the way things change to people once they see it on the final product versus spray out. But all in all, it turned out to be a beautiful paint job and they were thrilled with it in the end.
Kuhn: I actually experienced one where they saw the photos of the paint and the layout, but when they arrived, they didn't feel like that's what they had visualized in the 3D world. We had to come back and do some touch ups and change the overall layout, just ever so slightly.
