When it comes to COVID-19 impact, aviation and aerospace is one of those industries that took the brunt of the blow. Companies in the industry, including global leaders, are still working on ways to squeeze past this serious threat to not just their growth but also survival. With episodes of regional lockdowns and prolonged travel restrictions, commercial aviation remained crippled throughout 2020, which led to the irreparable damage to many small and local aviation companies around the world that were unable to find sufficient funding to survive the disaster.

Now that the COVID-19 vaccines have rolled out around the world, and more and more people are getting vaccinated, travel is back on. Flight hours have significantly increased, especially in countries like China, where domestic aviation has recovered to around 95% in terms of service utilisation.

In a post COVID-19 world, the aerospace industry has various challenges that can be turned into opportunities with the right strategic mindset. For instance, while aircraft delivery schedules of manufacturers will remain disappointing for the next few years, as airlines have cut down their fleets and postponed orders for additions, this is the perfect time for manufacturers to innovate their product designs and integrate functions that could enhance passenger safety and comfort.

Inducting Industry 4.0 principles and practices is also more viable now than it was before with little pressure on production. During the past decade, manufacturers’ strategy for digitisation of processes and manufacturing plants was stifled by constantly increasing production demand.

Now, they can turn the challenge of decline in product demand into an opportunity of modernising their facilities, thus getting ready for a future where they can expect enhanced results in all four of their primary performance metrics, including product quality; production, operations, and maintenance costs; production capacity utilisation; and safety.