Inside Unical’s strategy to keep the global commercial aircraft fleet flying

With the acquisition of aircraft storage, disassembly, and transition provider ecube Solutions in 2024, Unical Aviation has experienced one of the most transformative periods in its history.

The coming together of the long-term collaborators aligned perfectly with Unical’s growth strategy, as one of the aviation sector’s leading global aircraft parts and components suppliers.  

Leading the process of welcoming ecube to the Unical family was the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sharon Green, a 35-year aviation industry veteran.

AeroTime recently had the chance to discuss Unical’s evolving story with Green at MRO Europe, drawing on her vast experience to gain an insight into where the Used Serviceable Material (USM) market is headed.

Green joined Unical in 2022, having previously held C-level positions at The Memphis Group and as the CEO for GECAS (GE Capital Aviation Services) Materials and AerCap Materials.

Founded in 1990, Unical now expands across the United States (US) and Europe, providing aircraft parts and components of USM to international partners in more than 90 countries.

The company’s itinerary includes 90 million available parts across over one million unique part numbers. Now, with ecube onboard, it is able to provide an enhanced support service that includes aircraft storage and disassembly.

World’s first A320neo fleet disassembly

Green highlighted the company’s acquisition of a fleet of Airbus A320neo airframes earlier this year as a seminal moment for Unical and ecube, and indeed the industry as a whole.

When asked about Unical’s recent successes, Green said: “The Neos have obviously been a big piece of that and that was just a pure partnership with a lessor. We have multiple sources, but the biggest source was the lessor that’s developed. We knew they were going to be the first to come out.”

ecube commenced disassembly of the Airbus A320neos in April this year, generating high-demand material for worldwide aircraft operators. At the time of the interview, Green said there were two remaining for disassembly.

Typically, the A320neo has been viewed as being too young for disassembly, but with industry issues surrounding engine availability, aircraft owners are being forced to make tough decisions.

Unical believes more A320neos will become available for disassembly, but it will be around a decade before the aircraft are seen more regularly.

Green was actually working for The Memphis Group when it became the first company to acquire A320 CEO airframes for disassembly.

“Through the years, you learn that the first to come out is going to be successful. We just had no idea how successful the Neos would be,” she explained.

Green noted that the company was taking a bit of a chance with the A320neo acquisition, but they knew that operators of the aircraft wanted the newer parts even if CEO material would still work.

With ecube carrying out the A320neo disassembly as part of Unical, Green said it was an “education,” drawing on the team’s expertise and knowledge about the process.

Unical acquisition of ecube

As a global leader in aircraft storage, disassembly and transition services, Unical saw ecube as an ideal partner when it acquired the company in 2024.

With extensive facilities in Coolidge, Arizona, Castellón, Spain, and its headquarters in St Athan, Wales, bringing ecube onboard was an attractive proposition.

ecube holds Diamond Level AFRA (Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association) accreditation across all its sites, as well as maintenance approvals from multiple aviation regulators including the FAA, EASA and the CAA.

Having worked at aircraft parts companies since 1992, Green knew the importance of in-house disassembly capability, describing the acquisition of ecube as “critical”.

With the two companies together, rather than Unical providing a third party with a list of parts, with ecube there is greater opportunity for collaboration and exhausting all material during disassembly.

And while Unical benefits from working with a disassembly and transition service provider, ecube has also prospered from close contact with a parts company.

“I think it’s mutually beneficial. Now with a parts company behind them, ecube has access to all the history of the parts that Unical sells so we can go in and help the customer do even more. I think that’s a credit back to the customer,” Green explained.

Other new business opportunities are also set to arise from their collaboration. Green points to customers using ecube for aircraft storage that may be open to other options available to them.

New global opportunities

Asia has become an emerging market for Unical, particularly with the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association (AFRA) and the Civil Aviation Administration of China’s (CAAC) initiative for globally harmonized aircraft disassembly and parts traceability.

Earlier this year, ecube and Unical committed to register their next 100 aircraft disassembly projects under the AFRA-CAAC program. 

Green previously said that Unical has historically been most successful on the buy-side in the Asia-Pacific region but “anticipates a quarter or more of our sales will come from that region” as processes are harmonized.

Through the AFRA-CAAC program, blockchain-powered traceability ensures that every disassembled component meets and exceeds the highest safety and regulatory benchmarks. 

The blockchain-powered database of aviation assets will be powered by Block Aero, ensuring that every component harvested from retired aircraft meets the highest standards of safety, quality, and transparency.

The accreditation announcement and roll out of the blockchain technology is expected in early 2026.

Staying ahead of the competition

Green explained that large parts of the USM industry are very closely interconnected, meaning that “some of your biggest competitors” are also “some of your biggest customers”.

“We have repair shops and MRO operations, so you’re buying parts as much as you’re selling parts,” she said.

In 2023, Unical moved its base from California to Glendale, into a 599,000 square foot facility that includes its parts warehouse and corporate team.

The relocation was guided by a need to streamline processes. Relocation involved moving millions of parts with thirty trucks, travelling six days a week between California and Arizona.

Also based at the Glendale facility is Unical’s FAA, EASA and UK-certified 145 Repair station. There, it provides maintenance, repair and overhaul of airframe and accessory components, including in-house capabilities for Non-Destructive Testing (NDT), Engineered Repairs, and tooling fabrication.

For Green, it is Unical’s disassembly and MRO capabilities that set it apart from others working in the sector.

“Our component repair shop is completely captive, so it does no third-party work, which of course speeds our parts to market,” she said.

A team built with knowledge and expertise

Since joining Unical in 2022, Green has been struck by the remarkable depth of knowledge and expertise among employees throughout the company.

“Whether it’s landing gear, Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) or engines, the Unical team is like nothing I’ve ever seen, but across the board at every level,” she remarked.

The Unical workforce has been strengthened further since Green was appointed to run the company, with technicians and engineers from other leading USM providers also moving over.

“We’ve got the best of the best that have come together. It makes it a very dynamic environment to be in,” she added.

Challenges of changing global tariffs

With customers worldwide, Green said that the change in global tariffs has been one of its biggest challenges recently.

Headquartered in the US, Unical relies on its ability to export parts and components across borders with as little friction as possible.

With ecube part-based in Wales, UK, Unical was able to establish a warehouse there, enabling materials to reach customers in Europe and the Asia-Pacific.

Following the process of disassembly, aircraft parts would normally return to Unical’s main headquarters in Glendale, Arizona, but with European operations in place, the company avoided placing additional financial burdens on its customers.

“Since the landscape has been evolving so quickly, we’ve decided to remain adaptable and wait until things settle,” Green explained.

Trends within the industry

According to Green, some companies are currently finding it difficult to acquire aircraft, something the CEO said Unical is not experiencing due to its unique positioning.

“We have moved to more programmatic buys, so we’re buying multiple aircraft at a time. There’s not a lot of people that take that tack, whether it’s risk or financing or backing or whatever. There can be multiple reasons, but ultimately it has made a difference with our customers when you can be a one-stop shop,” Green said.

Unical said currently it would have expected to see more aircraft retirements but highlights this as a “good thing” as “ultimately you want them in the air”.

As Green has previously stated, the more planes are in the air, the higher the need is for maintenance and by extension, for parts and as a group, the entire aviation services lifecycle is covered.

To learn more about Unical Aviation visit the company’s website.The post Inside Unical’s strategy to keep the global commercial aircraft fleet flying appeared first on AeroTime.

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