The COVID pandemic has truly impacted the aerospace industry in many unforeseen ways including reduced ridership, supply chain interruptions, mergers/acquisitions, and personnel turnover. While the industry has experienced each of these in the past, and has adapted and recovered, it is only now that we are beginning to see what aviation will look like as we plan for 2023.

The U.S. Transportation Safety Administration supplies U.S. ridership numbers, which for 2019 through mid-February 2022 look like the following:

Likewise, EuroControl provides similar data over the same time period for European flights:

The parallels are similar and point to a consistent story: the industry is continuing to recover; although not to 2019 levels, there is recovery.  This is good news for the industry and ancillary industries that rely on aviation.

Now as we are into 2022, there seem to be two key themes in deciding how to move forward:

• Do we treat 2023 as extrapolation of 2019 and think of the pandemic as an interruption, or
• Do we invest and revitalize by anticipating the differences that come with 2023 since 2019?

Either approach is causing the industry to see 2022 as a ‘bridge year’, or a time of transition.

Beyond the economic, financial, and personnel factors that are fairly evident, there is also the proliferation of new technologies and solutions. Some of these technologies are not new but are maturing and advancing to the point of usefulness. Consider some of the technology areas today: cybersecurity, Advanced Air Mobility, eVTOL, Digital Twins, Advanced Manufacturing, alternative fuels, artificial intelligence, and many others. Undoubtedly, your organization will be involved in some fashion with a number of these areas.

To be successful in this evolving landscape requires partnering and partnering requires a framework for the exchange of ideas and solutions. The products of such partnerships need protection and some of these products may be made available for the industry as a whole. Partnering holds the potential for a strategic advantage that has tactical benefit. SAE Industry Technologies Consortia provides this framework.

SAE ITC, simply put, facilitates Visionary Collaboration in order to Advance Technology. To do this we bring your organization together with others knowing that for industry wide challenges, it is more effective to work together.

Our portfolio has opportunities for you to be involved today. Our success is realized by assisting the industry as a whole and providing benefit to your organization specifically. Review our portfolio as shown below:

We invite you to realize the benefits of our consortia as other organizations have done.  Investigate our products and services.

As your organization moves forward into planning for 2023, survey your own strategic landscape and seek out the partnerships you will need to continue your own recovery. Reach out to us through our website https://www.sae-itc.com/; we would like to continue this conversation with you.