Embraer and Air France Industries have signed a five-year flight hour pool programme contract with Italian carrier Alitalia to support their fleet of six Embraer 170 jets.

Under terms of the agreement, Alitalia will receive cross-product expertise of both the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and the maintenance services of Air France Industries.

Embraer’s pool programme, consisting of on-site and exchange inventory and repair management, enables airlines to take maximum advantage of economy of scale, with improved spare parts availability at large fleet provisioning costs.

The programme helps reduce investment in parts inventories, controls costs, minimise the risk of surplus, cutting overhead requirements, and reduce repair and overhaul (R&O) costs with access to exchange parts inventory.

By providing the airline with quick and extensive spare parts replacement, it greatly reduces the need for warehousing facilities and inventory management expenses, enabling operators to budget carefully.