S7 Group's chairman believes that Russia must master reverse engineering in order to keep the status quo of the country's airline industry.
Evgeny Elin, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Russia’s S7 Group, which owns S7 Airlines, has warned that airlines that are going to operate the domestically made Irkut MC-21 would have to ground the aircraft periodically due to engine overhauls of the PD-14 engines. As a result, with sanctions in place, Russia needs to learn how to reverse engineer Airbus and Boeing aircraft to sustain an airworthy fleet.