This is the one thing you neglect when selecting a repair station, and it’s not quality.

It’s a critical factor, that when it’s not done, it will cause you a ton of time and money.

In the past, maybe you’ve been tricked by an MRO that promised one thing, then delivered another. Or didn’t deliver at all.

It’s frustrating.

And that’s the one critical thing you need to determine when working with your repair partners.

Honesty and trust. It sounds so simple, but it rather complicated, especially if it’s a new relationship.

If you can work with a repair partner who’s honest and you build a trust-based relationship, this can save you a lot of frustration.

Here are three ways you can screen your repair partner and determine if they’re honest.  

They’re easy to talk to and they have GREAT communication skills.

If your emails seem like they go into a black hole, and the MRO is never available to talk, that could be a sign you’ll have a problem.  

Or maybe they’re initially excited to talk to you, but then dodge your calls when you start asking for more details.

An open and honest repair partner should always be happy to talk, even when you’re asking the tough questions.  

I’m sure you’ve experienced it before when someone goes silent. If you can figure this out before you send in your part for repair, that’s a really good thing.

Here are a couple of steps to test their communication skills:

1. Send an email asking for an average repair cost and turn-around time. Review how fast they replied. Even if they reply they’re busy and will get to your request soon, that counts.

2. After they send you a repair quote, call the person who quoted you and ask for more details. Are there issues commonly seen with this type of part that fall outside of the average repair cost? What you’re testing here is if the person answers your call or how fast they call you back. You’re also testing how easy they are to talk to on the phone.

Once you test their communication skills and they pass, move on to the next step, which is…

An MRO must ask you key questions about your aircraft part or repair needs. Otherwise, they have no idea what your repair goals are. As your trusted repair partner, this is their J-O-B.

They make it seem so simple. You contact a repair station and tell them you have a part that needs repair. They say, “No problem!” And that’s that.

But if they make commitments without getting all the information, you’ll be in for some unpleasant surprises.  

Repairing one part is a lot different than repairing 1,000. For the one part, you may be AOG and need a quick turn-around repair.

For the 1,000 parts, you may need 20 repairs a month to manage turn-around times and reduce inventory cost burden.

If a shop promises a turnaround time without knowing what kind of condition your part is in, there’s a good chance they won’t deliver.  

The one question almost no MRO asks (but should) is, what are your goals for this repair so I can best align our repair quote and/or solution to fulfill your operational needs?

If they don’t ask questions, beware; they’re a repair farm. Meaning, they just repair with no intent of helping you produce results for your operation.

Next, they need to be upfront about delays. If they can’t be honest with what’s going on, that’s an immediate red flag.

We’ve experienced this more times than I can count.

You send your part in for repair, and when the part is due for a work order, nothing happens. It takes numerous calls, emails and follow-ups to get an update.

Finally, once you get an update, they tell you it’s going to be another 20 days.

This is a key sign of a repair partner who cares more about themselves than you.

What they should have done is informed you of any delay before you had to ask. Or when you did ask, they had an immediate response.

Someone who hides issues does not benefit you. It only causes you more problems. 

We all understand things happen. Parts go BER. There are delays in piece parts from OEMs. 

The point is… they must inform you of these things as soon as possible.

You can distinguish an honest aircraft part repair station by the information they feed you.

If you have a part that you know will take a month to repair, but the repair partner promises a turn time of 3 days, you may not be dealing with an open and honest company.  

This is the classic bait and switch.

If you tell them the part is in bad shape and you think it will take longer to repair, but they say no problem and still promise a week, perhaps you should just send it elsewhere.

A bait a switch is one of the biggest causes of frustration.

What they should do is say, our average repair takes 27 days. If your unit is in good condition we could turn it much faster. Do you know the reason for removal?

You can also get all of the details on selecting a repair partner in this free report available for download here.