MRO

Interview Transcript, English: 

The Vallair group of companies was created by Grégoire Lebigot in 2003 with facilities/offices in Châteauroux, Montpellier, and Luxembourg. There are two major sectors: aeronautical maintenance, which includes 240 employees (120 in Montpellier / 120 in Châteauroux). The remaining team work on asset management activities, spare parts sales, and aircraft conversion focusing on Airbus A320 / Airbus A330 / Boeing 737. The new state-of-the-art hangar in Châteauroux can house the Airbus A380, but also several A330s, and up to 5 or 6 Airbus A320s. There are only about 20 hangars of this size worldwide.

What is your expertise?

Vallair intervenes after the aircraft are manufactured; they need constant maintenance before every take-off and after every landing. This ranges from “line maintenance” performed at major airports like Paris Orly or Charles de Gaulle, to “base maintenance,” which requires hangars for heavier maintenance visits – up to 10,000 or 15,000 hours of work per plane – and which sometimes ground an aircraft for several months.

Do you resell parts, for example to Safran, a large company in Issoudun?

Yes, in parallel, Vallair has an asset management activity that consists of buying mature aircraft, dismantling them in Châteauroux, and trading the parts. This includes Safran, with whom we have a strong partnership. We sell them landing gears, but they also send us customers so that landing gears can be replaced in our hangars.

Have you experienced any disruptions regarding the health of the company?

We had very strong post-COVID growth in 2022, 2023, and 2024, with turnover in the industrial sector rising from US$20 million to US$57 million. Then, there was a “correction” year in 2025, where we went from US$57 million to less than US$40 million – it was quite brutal. This is the nature of air transport; the cycles can be quite sudden.

Were there fewer flights?

No, perhaps even more. After COVID, there was a “maintenance bubble,” meaning that many airlines had delayed their maintenance programmes because planes weren’t flying, or were flying less. When things re-started post-COVID, maintenance needs were very significant, which supported our growth and was very welcome, especially as we had leased this hangar for 15 years. However, 2025 saw a rather sharp slowdown, which is typical of what we see in air transport. You have to balance maintenance with other activities like aircraft conversion and aviation customers other than airlines. We also need to manage the seasonality phenomenon. Airlines fly in the summer – from March 31 to October 30 – and prefer to schedule maintenance during the winter. So, at Vallair we must have high capacity in the winter and find other projects for the summer.

What is your forecast for the coming years?

2026 will be a year of steady consolidation, and we are very confident about returning to stability by 2027. Airbus and Boeing are delivering more planes every day; airlines have never needed aircraft as much as they do now. The global fleet is ageing – the average age of an aircraft is 15 years today. Therefore, the more mature a plane is, the more maintenance it requires. Even if, regarding the post-COVID situation, the “good resolutions” are behind us and European airlines may be inclined to outsource their maintenance further East or further South, we remain confident.

You have a message to get across: training is very important to you?

Training is essential in these professions, which are, of course, highly regulated, standardised, and monitored which is also vital. Training is the key to stabilising an activity and making it sustainable. Training a technician takes 5 years; a pilot takes 18 months, but a technician takes 5 years. A technician becomes an expert with 10 or 15 years of experience. So, investing now is very unrewarding because we will only reap the rewards in 5 or 10 years’ time. But it is essential, so we rely on our own training school called “Aircraft Academy,” which has its own Airbus A321 to allow us to be more agile with training. As you can imagine, allowing apprentice technicians to learn their trade on our customers’ planes is complicated.

If there are young people listening to us, what types of profiles are you looking for?

We are looking for “Bac Professionnel” (vocational high school diploma), and the CAP or BEP tracks also work. Also, we have a good partnership with Greta and the Blaise Pascal high school. We are capable of taking a young person who has never seen an airplane in their curriculum – for example, from an industrial vocational background – and we will turn them into an aircraft technician. After a few years, they will have a “Part 66” licence, which will allow them to certify their own work and that of their colleagues.

Are you planning on keeping them in the region?

Yes, that is essential. We invest heavily; it represents thousands of hours of training. A technician spends about 20% of their time in training, either through initial training or what we call recurrent training. Every time a technician works on a new type of aircraft, it requires new training with a full associated programme. For us, it is essential to be able to keep them with us for as long as possible.

Does that also contribute to the attractiveness of this region?

Exactly.

A final message?

Many talk about the re-industrialisation of our country, and at Vallair, we are actually doing it. It’s a big challenge, a daily battle, but I am deeply committed to it; for me, it is very important. We cannot leave our territory or our country abandoned and simply accept that all these activities will eventually go elsewhere.
We thank you very much for stopping by our studios.

To read watch the full interview in French on BipTV, click here.

In the January/February edition of Inflight magazine, Vallair Chief Commercial & Marketing Officer, Pascal Parant, spoke about the increasing numbers of younger aircraft being acquired for teardowns.

“Whilst tearing down older aircraft is the norm, we are seeing that younger models are being torn down to release valuable USM to the market,” explains Parant. “The youngest aircraft I’ve seen town down were some two-year-old A318s in the US. There was also a ‘famous’ 787-8 that remained awaiting conversion for a long time before it was eventually torn down with less than 80 flying hours.”

He also considers that the value of newer airframes over old can be attributed to the rapid evolution of airliner cabins. “Cabin components reflect how much has changed over the past decade or so. Seats are slimmer, newer materials are used, and traditional lighting has been replaced with LED. Therefore, older, dated cabin material might not be worth reclaiming, making newer airframes more attractive for harvesting cabin USM.”

To read the full article, click here.

Article courtesy of Inflight.

In the January issue of AviTrader MRO360°, Pascal Parant, Chief Commercial & Marketing Officer at Vallair, spoke about sustainability in the MRO sector.

Speaking to David Dundas, Parant puts everything into perspective as he makes the case for the aviation industry doing more for the planet than you might think.

“Aviation accounts for around 2-2.5% of global CO2 emissions. However, we do not need anyone to tell us to reduce our carbon footprint. The aviation industry is already striving for a better planet. Innovations in the field have sustainability at the forefront: each new aircraft generation delivers roughly a 20% reduction in fuel burn and new composite airframes which require less maintenance will have smaller CO2 footprints.”

For MROs, the greatest environmental impacts originate from the running of maintenance facilities, including lighting and temperature control; the transport of large components such as nacelles and engines; and running engine tests, which burn jet fuel.

Parant’s attitude to reducing the environmental impact of the MRO sector is clear: “Be ethical. Be reasonable. Be responsible.”

He elaborates with advice to colleagues in the industry: “Go regional. Keep your maintenance not too far away from your FBO. Accept that paying more for maintenance close to home can reduce your CO2 footprint. Additionally, keep in mind that when a part is manufactured, it generates CO2, and use USM where possible.”

To read the full article, click here.

Article courtesy of AviTrader.

In the November issue of AviTrader MRO360°, Pascal Parant, Chief Commercial & Marketing Officer at Vallair, offered insights into the economics of C- and D- checks.

Speaking to David Dundas, Parant explains that the main cost drivers of these heavy checks are highly skilled labour and hangar fees, which MRO providers must charge in order to offset any zero-stress waiting periods on aircraft.

He also offers advice on keeping costs under control for operators. “Securing the right slot at the right time is essential,” he says. Much like airlines, MRO prices are higher during peak seasons, so operators who can schedule schedule heavy checks during traditionally quieter periods usually obtain better pricing”.

Additionally, Parant reveals “manpower is critical to success,” citing estimates which suggest 700,000 new maintenance technicians will be needed globally over the next 10-15 years. He highlights Vallair’s dedication to training the next generation of mechanics through its training platform, Aircraft Academy.

On the integration of AI, digital checks, and paperless documentation, Parant supplies succinct insight: “These technologies increase speed and improve efficiency. However, implementation costs are significant, and not all MROs can transition immediately.”

Lastly, Parant shares what he would introduce into the heavy maintenance check process. “I would create a full-airframe scanner capable of identifying corrosion, structural issues, and impact repairs months before the check, allowing optimal planning and provisioning. I would also deploy robotic support units to assist technicians.”

To read the full article, click here.

Article courtesy of AviTrader.

Châteauroux, France, 17th November 2025: Vallair, a leading aviation asset lifecycle support company, and AeroX, a specialist in advanced in-flight connectivity solutions, are proud to announce the signing of a strategic alliance enabling the fast and efficient installation of Starlink satellite communication systems across commercial aircraft fleets.  With Starlink, passengers will have access to high-speed internet anywhere in the world, even in areas without coverage.

Under this agreement, Vallair will allocate dedicated night-shift modification capacity at its state-of-the-art maintenance centre in Châteauroux (France), enabling the rapid installation and integration of Starlink antenna systems on both narrow-body and wide-body aircraft operated by AeroX’s customers in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. This approach ensures airlines can upgrade connectivity offerings without disrupting scheduled operations.

Grégoire Lebigot, CEO & Founder of Vallair, commented, “We are honoured to contribute to this digital revolution in commercial aviation and to support the rapid deployment of this outstanding connectivity system for the benefit of AeroX’s customers. Beyond the installation programme, Vallair can also provide full base maintenance services, allowing operators to combine cabin connectivity upgrades with scheduled checks in our flagship hangar.”

Aaron Grigsby, Chief Executive of AeroX, stated, “We are extremely happy to provide our customers with a fast, reliable and centralised modification solution in an ultra-modern facility in the heart of Europe. Partnering with Vallair allows airlines to adopt Starlink connectivity with minimal downtime and maximum operational efficiency.

The alliance strengthens both companies’ commitment to enhancing the passenger experience (which includes streaming entertainment platforms, online gaming, and cloud-based work), and supporting the next generation of real-time operational data, crew communication, and EFB (Electronic Flight Bag) performance reliability.

Vallair’s Pascal Parant, Group Chief Commercial & Marketing Officer, spoke to David Dundas about ensuring airworthiness of used serviceable material (USM) in the October/November issue of AviTrader MRO360°.

He explains: “Ultimately, certifying a USM part relies on rigorous traceability checks and processing by established, approved repair stations. For complex components such as engines, the process includes Maintenance Program Analysis (PMA), borescope inspections, and certification based on available trace documentation. In the case of a full engine teardown, each removed part is inspected, tested, repaired, or overhauled, and repair shops ensure that no items appears on any blacklist file. I recall a global alert issues after a Boeing 757 crash where engines had disappeared. A full list of serialised parts was circulated worldwide and any shop that came across one of those parts had to immediately remove it, quarantine it, and notify the FAA.”

He also offers insights into emerging blockchain systems, which could offer enhanced traceability of parts. “If such a system were to emerge, it would need to be universal, certified, and implemented on new aircraft programs, as retrofitting this type of traceability is almost impossible.”

To read the full article, click here.

Article courtesy of AviTrader.

In the Q3 edition of Aviation Maintenance Magazine, François Fermaut, Director of Operations – Châteauroux at Vallair, spoke to Mark Robins about composite repair.

Composite materials are being used increasingly in the aerospace industry thanks to their light weight and strong durability, meaning the ability to repair them expertly and efficiently is essential. Fermaut shares the three most common challenges when repairing composites and explains Vallair’s non-destructive testing (NDT) policy, which uses thermographic and ultrasonic inspection to clearly map damage.

To read the full article, click here.

Article courtesy of Aviation Maintenance.