[aunty_helen]

This literally happens everyday, everywhere and to every airline. Sometimes even between airlines.

I’ve personally been responsible for a part getting pulled off another engine from another airline and swapped for one that got its electrical connector damaged so the engine would ship on time.

There is a whole industry of buyers and sellers of 2nd hand aircraft parts.

[stevehawk]

That doesn't mean this is the same situation. In examples you are likely thinking of, this is happening because of the immediate need for parts or as cost savings, etc. Russia is doing it because they are blocked from primary and secondary markets. For many of their aircraft in the country there are no replacement parts coming except what falls off of the truck in China and gets passed along. So their supply chain is slowly approaching zero until their aircraft have to simply be grounded (or they quit invading neighboring countries and the embargoes are lifted.)

[kelnos]

Sure, but those types of things are stopgap measures that work in a normal, unsanctioned market. Like, they need a part now, but there's none available in the maintenance hangar (or whatever), and it would take a few days to order one, so they ask another airline at the same airport to float/sell them the part. Once the ordered part arrives, they're back to their usual number of parts.

In this case, Aeroflot just cannot get more parts, period. The market for new parts is completely closed to them right now due to sanctions, and secondhand parts will only get them so far. We're talking about brakes here, which wear out to uselessness, so I doubt there's even much (if any) secondhand market for those. Once all the "Boeing brake pads" wear out and run out in Russia, that's it. They can't get new ones without someone violating sanctions. Well, unless they manage to bum spares from countries like China that aren't sanctioning them, or unless someone local can manufacture them to the correct specs.

Regardless, these other options get more and more expensive as time goes on.

[samtho]

> or unless someone local can manufacture them to the correct specs

This will likely happen except for the correct specs part. Sure, it will be manufactured to fit, but it likely won’t be able to be made to the same standard as the official Boeing part.

The impact of this could be absolutely nothing, or maybe Aeroflot planes just end up on runway excursions more often. It could also lead to catastrophic failure and separation of the landing gear bogie causing all sorts of additional trouble.

[saiya-jin]

Aeroflot was widely regarded as worst international airline (on par with say Nepal airlines but for very different reasons) way before any invasion started. Typical russian mentality and alcoholism is simply not a good match to highly structured and regulated environment of very complex machinery.

Everybody I know tried hard when travelling from Europe to Asia to avoid using them, even when they were often the cheapest.

[don_esteban]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/Aeroflot-from-worlds...

Some regional Russian carriers were pretty bad, but Aeroflot was not.

[genocidicbunny]

There's a reason that passengers on Aeroflot used to applaud a successful landing.

[foverzar]

It's not just "passengers on Aeroflot". It's an old airtravel tradition that lots of people find to be quite wholesome.

Do you say a polite "thank you" to a cashier? Well that's a similar thing - thanking aircrew for their labour.

https://enroute.aircanada.com/en/aviation/clapping-when-plan...

https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/68259/when-and-wh...

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/kiwi-traveller/131118567/flig...

https://www.skytough.com/post/why-do-people-clap-when-the-pl...

https://executiveflyers.com/why-do-people-clap-when-the-plan...

Some people find it irritating though, but who cares about these boring prunes.

[ssabev]

I know absolutely. However they can order spare parts. AFAIK, Russia is now cut off. Unless they can smuggle some from Kazakhstan, China or somewhere else it will be SOL for those airframes at one point.

[aunty_helen]

They will set up one or more shell companies in a non-suspect country but with less regulation oversight. Think Africa, like Morocco.

Then buy second hand planes, engines parts etc from dealers that may only check 1 level deep or be willing to risk getting sanctioned themselves.

Then strip them and send them to their overhaul locations.

Certain Colombian groups used to do it in the 80s when they needed their private jets overhauled but found their organization was sanctioned. surprised picachu