Maintenance Upswing.

The article reports on the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry exhibiting healthy growth rates, particularly in outsourcing, in the United States. The mandate for MRO of faster turnaround times, on-time deliveries, and high quality and reliability remains strong as competition from third-party providers grows. Airline unit costs have declined substantially in this decade, from a peak of $15.90 per 1,000 assigned seat miles in 2002 to $12.50 last year. Total MRO activities grew by 1.4% last year, at cumulative annual growth rates, to $38.8 billion from $38.3 billion in 2004.