European Union members currently struggling to achieve closer economic and financial 'harmonisation' might usefully look for lessons from Franco-British landing gear specialist Messier-Dowty.
At the last Paris show, the British and French sections of the then-newly formed joint venture were just beginning the same type of process.
At the 1997 Salon, chairman and chief executive Tony Edwards says the company will be making the point that it is "a successful example of European integration that works".
Integrated
And, the company's Canadian operations mean that "...we are [integrated] across the Atlantic, not just across the English Channel".
If Edwards, who is also chief executive of propellors-to-hydraulics specialist Dowty Aerospace and a main board director of parent company TI Group, has any single piece of advice for companies (or nations) seeking closer relationships, it is: "Get your preparations right."
"In retrospect, the difficult part for Messier-Dowty was the two years before we 'pressed the button'. Now, we're so thankful that we spent that time setting things up."
Differences
Everything from the number of factories that would be needed post-integration to the differences between a private-sector British company and nationalised French firm was looked at. Extracting Messier from the French Messier-Bugatti combine required France's first aerospace industry privatisation.
He contrasts Messier-Dowty's experience with other joint ventures "...where people have announced it, raised expectations, and then realised there are months, if not years, to go through."
Despite aviation's notoriously cyclical nature, Edwards is bullish about prospects: "It's one of the very few worldwide industries that has an underlying driver - passenger seat miles - that is growing at 5-7% each year.
"When seat occupancies reach about 70%, that means that you can't get on to the aircraft YOU want, which explains the ordering frenzy among airlines."
Fuelling that frenzy, he says, is the fact that there is no longer a large mothballed fleet of decent-quality airliners. The best have already been absorbed back into airline service, making the purchase of new examples a necessity.
A healthy 1997, 1998 and "probably 1999" can be forecast, but, unlike previous cycles, factors such as the need to remove older, noisy, Stage 2 aircraft from service in Europe and the US may stop the industry from shrinking again - or, at least, make any downturn a softer process than before.
Competitors
Messier-Dowty lays claim to having taken 40% of its market in 1996 with, according to the company's figures, Menasco taking some 23%, BF Goodrich 20% and the remaining 17% split between other competitors.
Edwards says he is not aware of any further consolidation in the sector at present, "...except that, if there are only two major civil aircraft manufacturers left, how many landing-gear manufacturers do they need"?
The continuing consolidation at prime contractor level, led by the US, will "...obviously trickle down". Messier-Dowty is, he believes, an example of what can be done at the sub-contractor level.
Source: Flight Daily News
