AkzoNobel’s Aerospace Coatings Segment

Q: The COVID-19 pandemic brought the airline industry to a virtual standstill. What was the impact for aerospace coatings?
A: Like most of all global industries, the aerospace coatings industry has been affected by COVID-19. In our 2020 Annual Report we stated that the demand for aerospace coatings started strong and began to decrease already by the end of Q1. At AkzoNobel, our priority is to keep our employees, their families, and our partners safe and well. We are closely monitoring the pandemic situation and taking all necessary measures. We fully support and follow national and local government requirements.

We are also taking all reasonable steps to continue serving our customers and maintain business continuity. Our sourcing team is working closely with our suppliers to proactively manage our raw material supply. We are monitoring and managing the extent and duration of any local requirements impacting/related to our physical locations.

Our focus is to ensure we can continue to support the industry and our customers for the long term and as the situation evolves, we will adapt our actions accordingly.

Q: Do you think the aerospace coatings market will be able to recover from the negative impacts of COVID-19 this year?
A: Before the COVID-19 outbreak, the industry was on a good trajectory. The pandemic has changed all that, at least in the immediate term. But previous challenges such as 9/11 and the global economic crisis of 2008 are proof that the industry can and will bounce back. While COVID-19 is undoubtedly a challenge, it is also an opportunity. AkzoNobel had been on a journey to streamline its business beforehand, and as such has a resilience that has allowed it to absorb much of the shock. Our mission is to come out of the COVID-19 period in an even stronger position than when we went in.

Q: What high performance characteristics do your customers demand (weight reduction, faster turn-around times, etc.)?
A: Two key trends that guide our developments are reducing the total cost of ownership and complying with the ever-changing regulatory environment. Total cost of ownership includes the durability of coatings, ease of application, process time, and the cost per liter/surface area. Of all of these, durability is by far the biggest contributor to total cost of ownership. Delaying the need to repaint aircraft or components saves significant costs in terms of material and application. Additionally, by improving the performance of the coatings on airplanes, it extends the aircrafts working time for the airline and minimizes time on the ground for paint repairs or repainting. 

We see a continued shift to basecoat/clearcoat in the industry; technologies that were developed to improve durability and reduce application time. We have since found further ways to optimize our color formulation for optimum brightness and opacity, leading to fewer layers and lower film builds, potentially reducing weight.

Enhanced durability is one of many reasons why many airlines are switching to our basecoat/clearcoat systems, including Aerobase and Aerodur 3001/3002.

Aircraft manufacturers also always welcome weight reductions, especially during the design and certification phases. Our products contribute to these benefits, but we mainly focus on developing high-performing, functional products. Our Aerobase and Aerodur basecoat/clearcoat systems were developed to improve durability and reduce application time. But by optimizing our color formulation for optimum brightness and opacity, the product potentially helps minimizing total aircraft weight thanks to fewer layers and lower film build and weight. We also provide and continue to develop coating systems for composites, thermoplastics, and lighter substrates and thus support manufacturers with minimizing reducing aircraft weight.   

Q: How often does a plane need to be repainted/how often do companies change the livery?
A: Livery changes and rebranding are highly dependent on each airline and therefore difficult to predict. Many aircraft types do not need paint applied to their exterior aluminum surfaces. American Airlines was an example of that. Newer composite aircraft do require coatings to protect from UV radiation, so what we see now is that virtually all airlines paint their aircraft to protect and just as importantly project their brand image.

We do know that high solids topcoats will start to lose flexibility, and experience color fading and loss of gloss after 5 or so years in service. Having launched basecoat/clearcoat systems over 10 years ago, we are beginning to see aircraft with more than 10 years’ service that look nearly new with gloss levels still exceeding 90 units. This would indicate that airlines can extend their painting intervals and realize significant cost avoidance without compromising the integrity of their brand.  

Q: What are the newest products your company has launched?
A: We are very proud of our chromate-free exterior primer, Aerodur HS 2121, developed with and qualified at Airbus. For airlines, Aerodur HS 2121 promotes superior sustainability of the brand image and improves selective stripping of the decorative layer, enhancing rivet adhesion and reducing maintenance downtime. It was developed to meet all Airbus exterior system specifications, including the selective strippable systems. The product received its qualification from Airbus in March 2019.  

In addition, we recently qualified our Aerodur 2111, a 2nd generation chrome-free primer, to Boeing. The updated Qualified Products List was released in 2019 and since then hundreds of aircraft (in OEM and MRO) have been coated with this primer.