AVIAPRO CONSULTING BLOG

 

Challenges ahead for aviation consulting

29 September 2022

Businesses across all sectors are needing to compete in an economic environment that is constantly changing. With today’s trend towards environmental responsibility, aviation consulting firms work closely with their airline clients to implement solutions that are efficient and sustainable. However, this adds additional stressors from an environmental, financial and operational perspective. Effective strategy development and process changes are key to helping clients stay ahead of the curve notably when adopting new technologies.

Today, there is a clear need for aviation consulting firms to refocus their business models and organizational framework using a variety of strategies to adapt to the industry's challenges and keep them in the lead.

Main Issues Facing Aviation Consulting Firms Globally

For aviation consulting companies to remain successful in the coming years, the following risks  are the most critical ones to mitigate:

• Rising client expectations:
  Corporate buyers of specialized services have become more demanding, opposing concepts such as billable hours, and requiring fixed fees and greater transparency on costs. In an increasingly flexible environment, intensified by rapid digital innovation, clients now expect more value, a higher quality of work, and faster delivery of solutions and services.
  
  
• Increased automation and digitization:
  The business environment is progressively becoming digitized, speeding up information,  transactions and automating manual tasks. This digital transformation affects every part of the consultant's work, thus altering the level of competition, the development of proposals and the execution on deliverables. In addition to the use of technology, this requires emphasizing people over processes, collaboration over negotiation, and adapting to change versus sticking to a plan.
  
  
• Intricacies of delivering on projects:
  Aviation consulting firms are working in  an increasingly intricate macro-environment in which they must continue to provide value added recommendations. The global nature of the industry exacerbates the issue, as firms deliver more projects overseas, in many cases also working with subcontractors, partner companies and independent consultants. Delivering a project in and of itself is not the issue – the difficulty is in doing so faster, more efficiently and to tighter budgets, while continuing to satisfy customer requirements. This makes it hard to plan in advance and can also put a business' bottom line at risk.
  
  
• Need for new skills:
  Companies are perpetually under pressure to keep up with the market's evolution as new technologies are released. If they don't adapt and adopt, their competitors will. This requires recruiting or retraining  qualified people with the required skillsets and abilities. Hiring the right talent in a highly competitive market is a substantial problem that aviation consulting companies  have to contend with.

Keeping an Edge Going Forward

Project managers must be strategic business partners fully vested in their clients’ organizational success — and be able to roll with inevitable setbacks. They have to employ highly-focused specialists according to the needs of each project to ensure they have the right skills for the job. 

Successful consultants must prioritize outcomes over daily activities or hourly billing rates. Their success depends on their ability to point out obstacles to overcome, problems to solve, and offer  innovative solutions to implement.

Investing in customizable technology which adapts to the areas of focus and creates better collaboration through streamlined workflow management frameworks, drives more contracts through improved lead management, and promotes superior client relationship management.

Check our latest offering on www.aviaproconsulting.com/avianalysis to see how our innovative platform can help simplify your access to value-added, aviation consulting solutions; or contact Jorge.Abando@aviaproconsulting.com.

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