IATA MRO SmartHub now connects more than 800 companies and 1,700 registered users across airlines, MROs, aftermarket suppliers, traders and lessors. More than 40 organizations contribute transaction data to Evaluator, and it is that contributed data, anonymized and held in an IATA safe data harbor, that produces the Fair Market Values, price bands and benchmarks every participant relies on.
The platform operates on reciprocity. Companies that contribute data receive access to the market picture that data creates. The fourth quarter of 2026 extends that principle further on both sides of the market: airlines can now take core access at no cost, and suppliers can join the Connector marketplace free of charge for a limited registration window. Both offers are described below.
Evaluator now includes a dedicated PMA benchmark, built on the FAA Parts Manufacturer Approval database.
The benchmark answers two questions that are difficult to answer from internal data alone. First: within the material an airline purchases, where does an approved PMA alternative exist, and what cost improvement would adoption represent? Second: what is the airline’s current PMA utilization, and how does it compare with the wider market?
Rather than presenting a static list of PMA-eligible parts, the analysis works from observed trading behavior, so the opportunity shown reflects what an airline buys rather than what it might theoretically buy. Market comparison figures are aggregated and anonymized throughout.
One caveat matters and we state it openly: the cost improvement figures are indicative. They do not account for airline technical policy, lessor requirements or contractual restrictions, all of which legitimately limit PMA adoption. The benchmark is intended to show where the conversation is worth having, not to prescribe an outcome.
The supply chain KPIs first presented at the IATA World Maintenance and Engineering Symposium in Madrid in June 2026 are now being made available more broadly to platform participants.
These indicators were initiated through IATA Working Groups and are built on contributed data points from more than 40 airlines. They describe how the aftermarket is performing Top Spend and Surplus Change measured from real transactions rather than from survey responses or list positions.
Two things make them useful. For an individual company, they provide an external reference point against which internal performance can be judged. For the industry, they give IATA an evidence base for supply chain advocacy, which is the reason the Working Groups asked for them in the first place.
All figures are aggregated. No company, supplier or individual data point is identifiable in the published view.
The Procurement Cockpit brings material demand, requests for quotation and orders into a single view. A working version exists and development is continuing.
Before we take it further, we want to hear from the people who would use it every day. Procurement and materials teams see a set of daily frictions that no specification written from the outside will fully capture, and the direction of the next development stage should be shaped by that input rather than by assumption.
We are therefore opening a feedback round to interested airlines. Participation is straightforward: a short walkthrough of the current version, followed by a structured conversation about what would and would not work in your environment. There is no commitment and no cost.
If your team is interested, contact us here.
Under the Airline Core Program, airlines receive complimentary access to three modules: Evaluator (Fair Market Value, Average Market Price and benchmarking), Connector (the material marketplace) and Auctioneer (structured material purchasing) for up to 40 users.
In return, participating airlines contribute their material transaction data on a regular basis. That contribution is what keeps the market picture current for everyone, and it is anonymized before it enters any calculation.
Onboarding is deliberately light. Most airlines are live and trained within approximately two weeks of signature, supported by separate sessions for administrators and business users. Reach out here for more details.
IATA is running a supplier initiative to increase the volume and quality of material visible to airlines on the platform. MROs, distributors, traders and aftermarket suppliers can join the Connector marketplace free of charge.
Registration is open until 31 December 2026. The free-of-charge period extends well beyond that date for every supplier who registers within the window.
The initiative follows a change that suppliers asked for directly: it is no longer necessary to price every listing. Stock can be made visible first and priced on enquiry, which removes the main reason surplus material was never listed at all.
Several leading suppliers have already joined. The initiative remains open to others who want direct, IATA-backed access to airline demand. Contact our team.
