World of Aviation: MRO and Technology

Even within aviation, first flights have happened, aircraft have slid off runways, manufacturers have been engulfed in scandals, beloved celebrities have died in air crashes, firefighting aviators have lost their lives, airlines have failed, airframers have made annual losses, and worrying new respiratory viruses have spread from epidemic to pandemic while travel demand plummets. Aircraft have been shot down. Exhibitors have dropped out of airshows. (Aircraft have dumped fuel, but in fairness, it seems to be the first time that one has flown over a school playground while doing so.)

Aviation, like the rest of us, needs to manage this gushing firehose of news, sifting through what is relevant, what affects us, what we can do in response, and what we should do. There are real questions of bandwidth, both for everyday people and for the companies, regulators, governments and international organisations within aviation.

Where once an aircraft being shot down during an armed conflict might have been on the news for days, taking up a substantial amount of news coverage, now it seems to have passed out of the collective public’s zeitgeist more swiftly than ever. This is already changing the industry.

Reflecting on this as an editor, I’m convinced that at least part of the answer is being thoughtful about what topics we dive into here at the World of Aviation.

A magazine like this that focuses on longform journalism has the opportunity to get really deep into the reasons behind a subject, and it’s one we relish here — but at the same time the realities of publishing mean that our discussions of flight PS752, or the quickly evolving coronavirus situation, or the Boeing 777X, could be outpaced tomorrow.

It’s a challenge that I urge our expert journalists to grab by the horns, though, explaining why things are happening and what the implications of the decisions being made are for airframers, airlines, suppliers, airports and everyone else in the aviation ecosystem… all the way down to passengers.

As you read this in early March, several weeks or even a month after we’ve written the articles in the third issue of the WOFA, I hope we make you think about how the picture has changed in the time since, and how it might change in the future.

The reality is that, like our deep dive into the Boeing 737 MAX last month, we’re taking fundamental analysis snapshots of the world of aviation as we see it when we write it, as the experts we talk to explain it, and how the incredible photojournalists I’m continually delighted to feature in our pages capture it.

When the business of aviation isn’t business as usual, it’s an opportunity for us to ask questions. Last year’s Paris Air Show was a case in point: with Boeing doing the metaphorical (and in some ways literal) equivalent of closing its doors and battening down the hatches, there was an opportunity for journalists to talk to companies and individuals who we otherwise might not.

On that note, since our next issue will be coming out just before the Farnborough Airshow in July, I’m keen to hear from any readers whose companies will be exhibiting or who will be attending. The WOFA will be in the chalets, on the displays, around the stands, and all over the Farnborough flightline all week — and we’ll be bringing you the very latest online and the deepest analysis in these pages afterwards.

We’ll be doing that as part of a new team: the World of Aviation and our sister publication Australian Aviation are now part of the Momentum Media family. It’s an exciting step for us, with huge new opportunities, so watch this space as we double down on our efforts to bring you the very best of aviation, worldwide.

Particular thanks on behalf of us all must go to Christian “Boo” Boucousis, who with the team at Aviator Media has piloted AA and the WOFA through some very tricky airspace since 2017. I’m delighted that Boo will remain involved too.

My personal thanks also to those of you who contacted me via email ([email protected]) or on Twitter (I’m @thatjohn) with feedback on our previous issues of the WOFA — and what you’d like to see in the future, together with how we can better serve you, the best readers in the business. Please, if you have thoughts, do get in touch.