Consolidation in the Aviation Supply Chain
Since 2000, the aviation supply chain has consolidated by as much as 80%.*
With fewer new aircraft programs and fewer opportunities to compete, consolidation became the only way for suppliers to survive.
✅ Upside: scale and financial resilience
❌ Downside: production fragility
Post-COVID, commercial aircraft production still hasn’t recovered. Delivery shortfalls are projected well into the 2040s.
By contrast, automotive output rebounded to near-record highs by 2022. Automakers had deliberately designed for robustness: standardized qualification, modular platforms, and clear mapping of sub-tiers.
OEMs in aviation know the supply chain is brittle and are working hard to support suppliers. But aircraft architectures that require bespoke integration, sole-sourced components, and decades to develop will always challenge the supply base. The result is fewer players, higher costs, and greater fragility.
➡️ As we’ve shown in earlier posts, escalating development and manufacturing costs are unsustainable. If manufacturability is the primary constraint for the foreseeable future, the industry needs aircraft architectures that drive supply chain robustness by giving more suppliers a path to compete. That’s why we believe the future will be defined not only by what we build, but by how we build — modular by design.
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