When northern Illinois residents think of airplanes, the most common association is probably Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Yet just as important to local aviation is Rockford, which is a hub for the aerospace industry.
Many of the market's big players -- such as Woodward, AAR Corporation, and UTC Aerospace Systems -- focus on designing efficient systems and cutting-edge manufacturing processes. Yet for every major conglomerate, there are many smaller companies that act in a supply and maintenance role.
One example is Midwest Aero Support, a 28-employee firm in Machesney Park. As the name implies, the company aids airlines through maintenance and replacement parts. Owner and founder Brent Johnson says their particular specialty is pneumatics.
“We work on valves that regulate airflow or pressure on an aircraft, or fans and blowers that move air on an aircraft,” he says.
These are critical for maintaining cabin pressure and air conditioning. Other major parts include fuses, actuators that keep a plane’s flaps stable, and various control mechanisms.
But what’s most notable about their day-to-day operations is repairs. This can include replacing the laminate on cabin walls and seat panels.
“It’s a minimum two-person job. We’ve built our own molds and put them on. Otherwise, if you don’t have a mold, the vacuum on that machine is just going to crush it,” he says.
In fact, seats take up a large part of MAS’s overall repair operations. Johnson says for airlines, it’s cheaper to pay for repairs to specific parts rather than buying replacements.
“A seat back like this would cost about $1,000 only if you buy a hundred of them at a time.”
As for fixing a specific part, the process varies.
“Screws get jammed in and they have to be drilled out. Or small cracks. We utilize a shop across the street to do the welding and machining, and we finish the product so it’s almost like new,” he says.
Much of the company’s new repair work, seats included, has come from United Airlines.
“Up until now, all that type of work has been spread between three different companies, and United came to us physically in this conference room and asked if we’d have an issue if they centralized all that repair work with us. It took me like three seconds to answer that question,” he noted.
Johnson’s previous history with SAAB also led to a contract in December, both for repairs and manufactured parts.
“SAAB Sweden used to do the work for all the European and Asian airlines in all the world, but with this new agreement, we’re doing all the work they were doing.”
Finally, the company has also done various contracts with the military and affiliated contractors. One example is UTC Aerospace Systems, a larger company in Rockford.
“We did a lot of engineering and development work for them. Back then that was the F-22 and 787, and some of that morphed into production work,” he says.
Yet for all these business opportunities, the larger corporate growth presents challenges.
“It’s nice that AAR is coming to town and building this big hangar, and it’s great that Woodward Governor is having a huge expansion of their facility. But we’re all going for the same labor base, and it’s very difficult for a small company like this to compete for wage and benefit packages.”
In Johnson’s case, he recruited graduates of the Rock Valley College aviation maintenance program and attracted others through word of mouth. One of his longest-serving employees has worked at MAS for 22 years.
Despite the challenges of an evolving market and the increased overhead that comes with these new contracts, Johnson is quite satisfied with the state of his company. “It’s a fascinating industry, and I’ve built a lot of good relationships over the years, all over the world.”
And with more than 100 different customers each year, both domestic and international, that’s not likely to change any time soon.
