Con Air: exploring the trade in counterfeit and unapproved aircraft parts.

This article focuses on the issue of counterfeit and Suspected Unapproved Parts (SUPs) in the commercial aircraft parts supply chain, highlighting their significant latent safety risks despite heavy industry regulation. It explores how these parts enter legitimate supply chains and the motivations behind their circulation, drawing on qualitative interviews with specialized aviation industry professionals. The deregulated, highly competitive airline industry creates economic pressures that foster both unintentional safety compromises and deliberate misconduct, including the use of counterfeit parts facilitated by parts brokers and inadequately vetted maintenance providers. The study identifies vulnerabilities in supply chain oversight, under-reporting of SUPs, and blurred boundaries between legal and illegal parts markets, emphasizing that these factors collectively increase the risk of serious harm to public safety. The article concludes that ongoing financial pressures, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, may intensify the SUPs problem in the future, underscoring the need for further criminological research and improved regulatory responses.