Breaking Silos: Reshaping Aerospace Through Ecosystem Approach

The aerospace industry has long operated within a structured hierarchical value chain where OEMs, suppliers, MROs, airlines, and regulators function within well-defined specific roles. This traditional approach may be inadequate as technology accelerates, global challenges intensify, and mobility expectations and needs evolve.

To face the challenges of the future and be in a position to thrive in an increasingly dynamic landscape, aerospace companies would need to shift from a linear supply chain mindset to an interconnected ecosystem approach. This approach would foster cross-sector collaboration, digital integration, and innovative business models.

This article presents my personal vision of how the aerospace industry could unlock new value by breaking down industry silos, leveraging digital platforms, integrating with smart cities infrastructure, reimagining business models, and engaging in proactive policy collaboration.

By enhancing an ecosystem-based strategy, aerospace companies could enhance operational resilience, drive sustainability, and create new revenue opportunities in an era defined by rapid transformation.

While some aerospace companies are beginning to explore ecosystem-driven strategies, the transformation is still in its very early stages. Unlike the automotive industry, which has already embraced digital platforms, cross-sector partnerships, and new business models, aerospace faces greater structural challenges that slow widespread adoption. However, looking at how the automotive industry navigated this shift can offer critical insights into how aerospace companies could successfully accelerate their own ecosystem evolution.

For many years, the aerospace industry has operated within a highly structured framework, built around deeply integrated supply chains, long development cycles, and a strong commitment to safety and reliability. Unlike the automotive industry, which has rapidly embraced platform-based models, cross industry partnerships, and digital ecosystems, aerospace has evolved at a much more measured pace. However, the need for innovation, sustainability and efficiency is driving a transformation, one that must balance ecosystem collaboration with the industry’s unwavering commitment to safety and operational excellence.

Below, I briefly explain some of the structural challenges that the aerospace industry needs to address to be in a position to adopt an ecosystem-based strategy:

1. Long development cycles require future-proofing: The automotive industry has the flexibility to iterate and improve vehicle models every few years. This enables faster adoption of new technologies, partnerships, and services. Aerospace, on the other hand, operates on decades-long product cycles, meaning that technologies integrated today must remain relevant for many years to come. This requires a mindset shift from isolated innovation to continuous, ecosystem-driven evolution, where aircraft, maintenance systems and operational models can evolve in sync with advancements in artificial intelligence, automation, and connectivity.

2. A supply chain built for stability must become more agile: The aerospace supply chain is a complex, highly specialized network that is designed for precision, reliability, and long-term stability. This certainly has been a strength and has ensured the highest quality standards in the industry, but it also represents a significant challenge when adapting to rapid technological advancements and shifting market demands. To move to an ecosystem approach, the industry would need to build more flexible, digitally connected supply chains that allow for faster collaboration, predictive analytics and real-time decision-making.

3. Risk and iInvestment require a strategic ecosystem approach: Aerospace investments are massive, and the industry must maintain a careful balance between innovation and reliability. Unlike the automotive sector, which has experimented with disruptive mobility models at a relatively lower risk, aerospace must ensure that every single innovation is backed by proven performance, extensive testing, and cross-industry validation. Collaboration with technology leaders, digital infrastructure providers, and energy innovators must be structured in a way that drives innovation without compromising safety, reliability, and long-term viability.

Despite these structural challenges the aerospace industry is already showing early signs of an ecosystem-driven transformation, following some patterns seen in the automotive industry:

1. Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) and EVTOL integration: The rise of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is driving aerospace companies to collaborate beyond their traditional sector, integrating with automotive, energy and infrastructure companies to build a seamless air mobility network. EVTOL developers are forming partnerships with ride-sharing platforms and smart city developers, ensuring that aerial transportation is safe, efficient, and fully integrated with existing urban mobility solutions. 

2. The evolution of digital twins and AI-powered operations: Just as some automotive OEMs pioneered real-time vehicle monitoring and over-the-air updates, airframers are expanding the use of digital twins, AI-driven predictive maintenance, and interconnected aviation ecosystems. This means that airlines, MRO providers, and manufacturers are able to work within a shared, data-driven environment, improving operational efficiency while maintaining the highest safety standards.

3. Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and hydrogen ecosystems: The push for sustainability is creating an unprecedented collaboration between aerospace, energy and regulatory stakeholders. Initiatives from some of the airframers required ecosystem-wide partnerships, involving airlines, fuel innovators, airport operators, and policymakers. This mirrors in some way the evolution of the EV and battery supply ecosystem in the automotive sector, where shared innovation is accelerating the path to net-zero emissions.

The aerospace industry is at a strategic inflection point where the integration of ecosystem-based collaboration is becoming increasingly essential for long-term success. While the industry has historically thrived on structured supply chains and siloed innovation, the accelerating pace of technological advancement, sustainability demands, and evolving business models suggest that companies that embrace ecosystem-driven strategies will gain a competitive advantage, while those that hesitate risk falling behind.

In my opinion, ecosystem-driven collaboration is not yet an absolute requirement for survival across all aerospace segments, but it is becoming a strategic necessity for companies that want to remain competitive, drive innovation, and ensure long-term sustainability.