MRO: AI is spreading through hangars, the process remains the bottleneck
Per Oliver Wyman's 2026 MRO survey cited by Aviation Week, 67% of aviation maintenance players use AI, up from 58% in 2024. The difficulty is shifting from software to work organisation.
Aviation Week (October 6, 2026) cites Oliver Wyman's 2026 MRO survey: AI adoption in aircraft maintenance reaches 67%, up from 58% in 2024. Two-thirds of respondents say AI delivers as much or more value than expected, and about 75% expect to use it across most or all MRO activities within five years.
The same article counts at least two dozen AI vendors dedicated to MRO, with early consolidation (Pratt & Whitney acquired Aiir Innovations in July, AAR acquired Aerostrat last year). Livia Hayes of Oliver Wyman Vector describes a 'fundamental mismatch' between low IT investment and stated ambitions, and notes software fails when the business process doesn't change or keep up.
Economic reading: adoption is no longer the issue; converting it into productivity is. For Paul David (1990), factory electrification only paid off once the workshop was reorganised around the new power source. Roland Berger (July 2026) points to the same mechanism on data: data quality is the most cited barrier, and nearly two-thirds of manufacturers report significant clean-up is needed before launching AI.
Cardan-AI recommendation: before buying one more tool, write down the workshop process as it will be after the tool. Name the step removed, the data owner and who signs the new routine. Without those three names, the pilot stays a demo.
Analysis by
Cardan-AI Intelligence
Our research and analysis unit, dedicated to applied AI for business, industry and regulatory compliance.
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