Historically, the aviation industry has primarily been concerned with demand volatility, economic downturns and order cancellations. Today, the situation has fundamentally reversed. Driven by increased global mobility and the rise of low-cost carriers, air travel demand has surged worldwide. 

Commercial aviation is facing a period of growth. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, passenger traffic rebounded far faster than expected, accelerating the need for new aircraft.¹ In 2025, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Airbus and Boeing held order backlogs of roughly 8,750 and 6,100 aircraft respectively.^2,3 At current production rates, these backlogs represent approximately a decade of production already sold. 

The core challenge is no longer generating demand; it is synchronizing execution across deeply interconnected, capacity-constrained supply networks. Implementing advanced planning in multi-level production networks in aviation and aerospace offers a strategic pathway forward. By redesigning processes and integrating advanced planning systems (APS), organizations can gain visibility, manage capacity bottlenecks and build the supply chain resilience required for aviation and aerospace organizations to support future production ramp-ups.

Transitioning to advanced planning

Creating a strong foundation for digital tools

Advanced planning systems like Kinaxis Maestro™ or SAP IBP are becoming increasingly important as aviation and aerospace production networks grow more interconnected. Traditional sequential planning approaches often struggle to manage long lead times, cascaded planning dependencies and effort-intensive coordination. In many aerospace environments, several major assemblies may depend on a single constrained component, which makes synchronized planning and rapid scenario evaluation critical.

The initial effort must focus on cleaning master data and designing state-of-the-art process chains. Furthermore, organizational change management is critical. Planners must be brought onboard early to ensure that they understand how the new system replaces manual workarounds and directly improves their daily operations.

Step-by-step integration 

Advanced planning unifies a supply chain from end to end. With an APS, a single demand signal becomes visible from the OEM all the way down to tier-three suppliers. When demand or production changes occur, updated signals can be propagated much more rapidly across the network.

Achieving end-to-end integration remains challenging due to a combination of technical, organizational and governance-related barriers. For instance, varying digital maturity makes standardized data exchange and synchronized planning across multiple production tiers difficult. Additionally, internal interface ownership is often vague, with procurement managing the supplier relationship while planning manages the schedule. Rather than attempting a large-scale deployment all at once, many companies find success by starting small and scaling incrementally.

The role of AI and digital twins

Artificial intelligence offers compelling possibilities for aviation and aerospace manufacturing, but it must be applied to a solid foundation of clean data, network visibility and stakeholder alignment. Once an end-to-end APS is established, it can start laying that foundation, on top of which a supply chain digital twin can be built over time. From there, further optimization potential can be unlocked with AI applications that support automated procurement and inventory analysis, long-term forecasting and production scheduling, and accelerated scenario analysis during disruptions.⁶

Securing supply chain resilience for the next decade

The aviation and aerospace industry cannot meet its massive delivery targets using the tools of the past. Transitioning away from fragmented data and siloed spreadsheets requires a comprehensive strategy that addresses technology, process design and people.

By prioritizing advanced planning, organizations can synchronize operations across intricate production networks, better manage capacity constraints and foster stronger supplier collaborations. Companies ready to redesign their planning frameworks should start by evaluating their current data health and mapping the critical bottlenecks within their existing processes. Taking these foundational steps today will secure the operational resilience needed to lead tomorrow's market.