Brazil's LATAM MRO Cuts Parts Delivery Time by Over 96% with Drones

en.Wedoany.com Reported - LATAM's MRO maintenance center in São Carlos, São Paulo state, Brazil, has launched an internal drone-based material transport project, reducing delivery time between the warehouse and workshops from approximately 15 minutes to 30 seconds—a reduction of over 96%. The system performs around 160 pickup and delivery operations daily, transporting small aircraft maintenance essentials such as screws, seals, O-rings, and connectors, serving workshops including electrical, electronics, pneumatic, pressure vessels, emergency, hydraulic, ATEC, IDG, and battery units.

Before this technology was deployed, such transport relied on ethanol-powered multi-purpose vehicles with only three collection windows per day, causing long waiting times for workshops and limiting flexibility in internal logistics. With the shift to on-demand delivery, transport bottlenecks have been reduced, and maintenance processes have gained greater flexibility.

Alexandre Peronti, Maintenance Director at LATAM Brasil, stated that innovation is part of LATAM's strategy aimed at making operations increasingly efficient, safe, and sustainable. The project demonstrates how technology can transform daily processes, support technical teams, and drive more agile aircraft maintenance. The results at this stage also provide an opportunity to evaluate new applications of this solution in other areas of the company's operations.

In the new process, warehouse employees can dispatch drones autonomously without mobilizing internal logistics staff. Each flight takes approximately 30 seconds, adhering to safety protocols such as speed and altitude limits and isolated takeoff and landing zones. The introduction of drones has also driven a reorganization of logistics team responsibilities, with employees previously handling small parts transport reassigned to large material handling that requires specific equipment and specialized logistics. Meanwhile, the circulation of internal logistics vehicles on the site has decreased, correspondingly reducing ground transport volume.

Although the project is in its early stages, it has already shown expansion potential. LATAM plans to evaluate its application on new routes within the São Carlos MRO facility and will explore scenarios such as advanced warehouses and workshops in external areas in the future.

LATAM MRO celebrated its 25th anniversary in February 2026. Operating since 2001, the center is now the largest engineering and maintenance facility in the LATAM group and in South America, with a campus building area of 95,000 square meters, 9 hangars, and 22 workshops. It handles over 60% of the group's fleet scheduled maintenance and directly creates approximately 2,500 jobs. Regarding drone applications, the center has used AI-equipped drones for aircraft inspections since 2019, speeding up processes by up to 12 times and fully digitizing them; in 2023, it also launched the Mantra (Manutenção em Transformação, meaning "Maintenance in Transformation") program to encourage employees to develop innovative maintenance solutions.