IATA WMES 2026: How MENA Carriers Are Beating the Supply Chain Crisis

The IATA World Maintenance & Engineering Symposium (WMES) in Madrid (June 24-25, 2026) addressed a massive industry crisis: aerospace supply chain failures cost airlines an estimated $11 billion in 2025. With global aircraft backlogs topping 18,000 and average fleet age hitting a record 15.2 years, agile solutions are urgently needed.

MENA MRO Strategies Take Centre Stage

Etihad Airways’ Miguel Velez Gallardo, Senior Manager, Technical Supply Chain, served as a panellist for “Value of Product Support Frameworks”. Focusing on the ‘Supply Chain Track’: Subjects covered include combating failing Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) Service Level Agreements (SLAs) by implementing customised support architectures and proactive alternative sourcing.

Royal Jordanian Airlines’ Yousif Jawher, Reliability & Maintenance Program Manager, was a panellist on “AI for Aircraft Maintenance” on the ‘Operational Efficiency Track’. He discussed shielding the airline from a $3.1 billion industry maintenance premium by shifting to AI-driven predictive maintenance to preempt Aircraft on Ground (AOG) events.

EgyptAir / IATP Essam Hanafy, President and Custodian of the International Airlines Technical Pool (IATP), and historical Material Director of EGYPTAIR Maintenance (EGME), Session Leader for the IATP focus on the Supply Chain Track. The aim was to drastically reduce static inventory investments, with the IATP providing its members with shared access to a pool of 6,600 critical spare parts across 350 global stations.

IATA’s  Karmel Shahin, Manager, Technical Operations and Supply Chain, moderated for MRO SmartHub and “Maintenance Information Systems” (MIS) panel sessions, which intersected both operational tracks, and discussed democratising the aftermarket to solve data fragmentation, targeting 10% to 15% material cost savings via the SmartHub platform

MENA Leaders Propose Solutions at IATA Symposium

MENA’s aggressive move toward predictive AI and global resource pooling proves our region is leading the supply chain recovery.

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