IATA Head for Operational Cost Management to speak at MRO Russia & CIS 2022

Chris Markou to address the largest MRO event in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

MRO Russia & CIS

New digital technologies are driving a profound transformation of the MRO industry, and we are proud to announce that Chris Markou, Ph.D., MBA, will be attending the MRO Russia & CIS 2022 conference and exhibition, the largest MRO event in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which will take place March 10-11.

Chris is the focal point for IATA’s work on Airline Operational Costs and Performance, MRO and Aircraft Leasing related activities. He has worked on several initiatives to optimize airline operational costs using industry best practices and benchmarks on Airline and specifically Maintenance Costs trends.

Part of his focus is the “Digital Aircraft Operations” initiative leading to simplifying the business through regulations, standards, worldwide acceptance of electronic documentation and records. Chris is the Secretary to several groups on airline cost benchmarking, aircraft data, technical operations & aircraft leasing.

In preparation for the MRO Russia & CIS 2022 conference and exhibition, we conducted a short interview with Chris Markou.

What helps to increase the maturity of MRO processes through digitalization? Digitalization helps in the whole increase of efficiency in MRO and ensure compliance is met. Avoidance of clerical errors, quick transfer (even real time) of documents, remote inspections that allow detailed analysis, consistency of transferring information and data, etc.

Additionally, digitalization allows for automated data collection, quality checking, analysis, performance evaluation etc. All this leads to accurate and streamlined processes between the airline, the MRO and the various industry suppliers.

What would you recommend to MRO providers to succeed in applying new technologies in their operations? Digitalization will be a long journey, MROs need to be patient and understand that their customers will be in different levels of digitalization. We have to live with many paper processes for a number of years as the needs (and funding available) differ by organization, status of digitalization acceptance worldwide, and how to prioritize between competing needs and optimum timing to invest in a new technology for a specific process.

What digital case has made an impression on you lately? COVID-19 gave the industry the opportunity to embrace in digitalization quickly. Acceptance of electronic records increased significantly as well as remote inspections worldwide.

I doubt that without COVID these cases would have been so quickly accepted by the industry, including the regulatory authorities.

What inspires or motivates you every day to do what you do? It is the complexity of Aviation and especially the MRO area. New challenges arise on a daily basis. They need to be addressed and solved. They present an opportunity to learn and at the same time they offer the opportunity and joy of a solution and advancing the industry one step at a time!

Attend the MRO Russia & CIS 2022 conference and exhibition to get the latest info on the MRO industry and meet top executives from airlines and MRO service providers, as well as world-class experts in the field, including Chris Markou. Before IATA, Chris worked at Delta TechOps. He held various positions in TechOps’ Strategy leading to General Manager for Technical Sales – Marketing. Chris holds a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech and an Executive MBA from Emory University.

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