Aviation safety is a wide-ranging field, and in several key parts of this industry segment the ongoing supply chain crunch is biting deep. We dive deep into two high-profile segments: cybersecurity and airline seats, both of which have high requirements and are only too visible if things go wrong.
On the cybersecurity side of aviation, the growing digitalisation of the industry has revealed new threats and potential weaknesses, underlining cybersecurity as a fundamental part of aviation safety.
Andreas Boschen, executive director of the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking — SESAR meaning Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research — tells us that, “with higher levels of automation, increased data-sharing scenarios and virtualisation, you inevitably increase the cyber vulnerabilities. Such threats to our ATC, communications, navigation and surveillance (CNS) infrastructure, airports, and data, have been on our radar, and have been accounted for, in previous versions of our European ATM Master Plan. Now we are going even further with vigilance and countermeasures.”
The frameworks for this are collaborative across the stakeholder map, looking at system-wide governance, policy, regulation and oversight, as well as cybersafety and cybersecurity culture promotion. Ensuring that the supply chain for the digitalised air traffic management system is certified and cybersecure for the high levels of safety that aviation requires will be no mean feat.
“The ambition is to become stronger when confronted with new threats, ensuring a safer and adaptive aviation ecosystem,” Boschen says. “Our end goal will be to have a fully predictive model where advanced AI algorithms will analyse extensive data and emerging cyber trends to forecast and pre-emptively counteract potential cyber-attacks before they occur, establishing an unparalleled level of proactive digital security.”
The more traditional physical safety side of aviation includes specialist companies that manufacture the highly regulated, safety-tested seats that are commercial aviation’s main product — a key part of the aviation manufacturing and operational supply chain, and with a deep supply chain of their own.
“Since the pandemic the recovery of the supply chain has been very slow with continued difficulties in obtaining electronic chips and semiconductors, as well as raw materials. The availability and high cost of shipping materials from the Far East have remained a problem and there have been increased lead times on globally sourced key components. These issues have been compounded by restrictions on transportation routes due to geo-political issues and military conflicts,” Andy Morris, chief commercial officer at Thompson Aero Seating, tells us. “Whilst recovery continues, contingency and mitigation plans are slow to be implemented. Changing and moving supply chains is not a quick process. It is really important to understand all the sub-tiers of your supply chain in order to be able to manage known risk and scenario plan for the future.”
Evolving traditional supply chain management is crucial, with demand planning and data-driven decisionmaking now both fundamental parts of the picture.
“The supply chain problems across aerospace post-pandemic have been well documented. However, many of them existed prior, and the pandemic simply amplified them,” explains Alan McInnes, vice president of business development at Unum. “To address the issues that relate specifically to the seating sector, and to de-risk our development, Unum defined and deployed an Integrated Design and Manufacturing Strategy. This centres on a new assembly plant close to London Gatwick — backed up by a flexible, scalable, and importantly local, supply chain.”
While Unum relies on specialist aviation stalwarts with key safety and certification experience for key elements — such as Bühler Motor for actuations, Schroth for safety belts, and SabetiWain Aerospace for foams and covers — the rest of its supply chain is local-sourced.
The increasingly digitalised cabin has created its own set of issues, however.
“Within the cabin, the continued semi-conductor issues continue to influence inflight entertainment (IFE) or in seat power supply (ISPS) lead times,” McInnes says. “While this is typically a buyer-furnished equipment (BFE) item chosen by the airline, we have to mechanically integrate the specified components and then certify the installation, availability of test articles and production stock from the IFE vendor — [this] can put pressure on the Design Development Programme and subsequent seat assembly. Therefore, we support our airline partners to ensure that IFE and ISPS decisions are made in good time, accounting for the longer lead times. In addition, we have also chosen to develop pre-defined IFE installation solutions to de-risk the development and certification programme for our customers.”
Author: John Walton
Published: 26th September 2024
;
