PROFILE … SHERWIN-WILLIAMS AND INTERNATIONAL AEROSPACE COATINGS (IAC)
Julie Voisin, Global Marketing Manager at Sherwin Williams Aerospace Coatings, and Alicia Castle McCrary, Sales Manager at IAC, on IAC’s General Aviation aircraft painting business AC is the global leader in aircraft painting, interiors, and graphics. With 10 state-of-the-art facilities across the USA and Europe, IAC has the capacity to accommodate 35 lines of aircraft. The company carries out more than 1000 paint events each year. IAC works in all segments of the aviation industry, including OEM, commercial, military, and general aviation. Its European headquarters are based at Shannon Airport, County Clare, Ireland, with the US headquarters based in Irvine, California.
we had a lot of good wins as well, particularly in business aviation, and in general aviation too.
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On the latter, for example, we painted numerous aerial firefighting air tankers. That sector tends to paint in bright colours such as vivid oranges and reds, which increase the aircraft’s visibility in heavy smoke. Of course, all through the pandemic, we have had to make adjustments to continue to abide by all the regulations, including social distancing and mask-wearing.
AH: Alicia, let me start by asking you how business has been through the pandemic? Have owners been willing to put their aircraft forward for painting?
Naturally, our painters are very accustomed to wearing masks. They always wear full respirators while painting, so the big change was for the corporate staff. But everyone adjusted quickly.
ACM: The commercial side of our business dipped, which was no surprise, given how many airlines were parking aircraft and cancelling routes. But on the positive side,
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