Eaton Aerospace is gearing up for a recovery in the industry this year and a longer-term trend to more electric aircraft, which it believes will boost its "power management" product portfolio.

Bradley Morton, president of Eaton Aerospace, says recovering airline yields and a build-up of spare parts inventory signal gathering confidence in the civil sector.

It comes as Eaton looks at potential acquisitions, joint ventures and organic growth to address emerging market regions and new technology trends in aircraft power systems.

Eaton has in the past five years added to its armoury by purchasing businesses such as FR-Hitemp and Stanley Aviation, Perkin Elmer and Argo-Tech.

"We have a lot of opportunities to improve the intelligence of our power management systems," he says. "We are very much looking at acquisitions to grow our portfolio within power management." Eaton - a $1.7 billion turnover division within the Eaton corporation - makes fuel systems, conveyance systems, hydraulic systems and electrical sensing and controls.

Eaton is also excited by opportunities in China, says Morton. The company has set up a joint venture with Comac to manufacture and design conveyance systems - effectively the aircraft's plumbing - on the Chinese company's C919 narrowbody. Morton believes that that sort of footprint could prove vital when other airframers look for a conveyance systems manufacturing resource in the country.

Source: Flight Daily News

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