Scheduling Challenges for Aircraft Maintenance and Inspection
How doing this research has helped you to further achievement towards your Personal Learning Goal.
Scheduling Challenges for Aircraft Maintenance and Inspection
The vast range in maintenance requirements across fleets of aircraft presents various challenges for the aviation maintenance industry. Line Maintenance, Heavy Maintenance, Engine Overhaul, Component Overhaul, Avionics, Retrofits and Conversions make up the six primary types of MRO work performed on airplanes (Fahza & Mohammed, 2021). Aircraft routine maintenance can be classified as either natural or unnatural (Albakkoush et al, 2020). Line maintenance, also known as heavy maintenance, is an example of a type of maintenance that follows a natural maintenance schedule, while unnatural maintenance refers to work that is performed at irregular intervals. OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) supply, unscheduled maintenance, and turnaround time have all been cited as major contributors to scheduling difficulties. Light and heavy maintenance, in addition to the numerous diverse aircraft types an MRO company handles, face difficulties due to these factors. This paper’s research will look into the most common scheduling problems encountered by MRO companies, as well as potential solutions to those problems.
Inspection and Maintenance of Aircraft
Various airlines’ planes fill the hangars of MROs, waiting for light or major repairs. Type Certificate (TC) and Maintenance Board Review Report (MBRR) both make reference to the Maintenance Planning Document (MPD), which serves as the basis for the maintenance requirements (MBRB). The Operator Approved Maintenance Program (OAMP) evolves as new criteria are introduced, such as service letters and bulletins (OAMP). Planned major maintenance requires taking an airplane out of service for an extended period of time while it is dismantled, inspected, and repaired; this type of plane is known as a “Aircraft on ground” (AOG). Aircraft must stay on 121 and under FAA authorization until all essential repairs has been performed. The inspector gave the FAA’s weight and balance program his stamp of approval without verifying its accuracy. Flight 5481’s real weight was 17,000 pounds, and its center of gravity (CG) was 45.5 percent of the mean Aerodynamical Chord (MAC) on the day of the accident due to inaccurate estimates resulting from faulty validation of the weight and balance software. At 17,120 pounds and 40% MAC, it was too heavy (NTSB, 2003, pp 116). loss for airlines because a grounded plane isn’t making money. The following fishbone diagram illustrates the different elements that affect the operation of MRO organizations. Line maintenance, whether A-Check or B-Check, involves examining the engine oil, the brakes, the surface area for faults, and other basic inspections, as do the other forms of maintenance outside of major maintenance (Fahza & Mohammed, 2021)
There are several varieties of aircraft inspections, the most common of which are the 100-hourly inspection, the yearly inspection (for general aviation), and the progressive inspection. However, these categories are not exhaustive. In accordance with section 91.409 of the Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR), every aircraft that either carries any person for pay or any person who gives flying instructions for hire is required to undergo a 100-hour inspection (AOPA, 2016). Progressive inspections are carried out in order to reduce the amount of time spent on maintenance downtime by identifying and repairing flaws in the system before they lead to catastrophic failure. Aircraft undergo inspections as part of their regularly planned maintenance, and these checks may sometimes result in unscheduled maintenance being performed.
Unscheduled Maintenance
Recent investigations of standard business practices have shown that unscheduled maintenance accounts for as much as half of the labor performed in heavy equipment maintenance (Samaranayake & Kiridena, 2012). These unplanned maintenances are typically the result of condition-based maintenance, in which inspections are performed as part of the scheduled maintenance tasking during an aircraft lay-up. If any defects or component failures are discovered during these inspections, then unplanned maintenance must be performed. When unforeseen maintenance activities occur, there is a major effect on schedule since there is a sudden need for more parts, labor, and the reorganization of jobs for easier execution. This causes considerable disruptions. Due to the strain that the firm management would take on to prevent delays, unscheduled maintenances are accompanied by significant expenses (Salaza Rosales, 2016). This necessitates spending more money on equipment and components, bringing on more staff, redistributing existing employees, and/or increasing the amount of overtime they perform. Even if it is feasible to plan for unscheduled maintenance to a limited degree, the required resources are not instantly accessible, and it would be inefficient as well as pricey to prepare for all of the duties. These delays would ultimately have a snowball effect on the maintenance plan itself, producing more and more delays as additional defects are detected. This would finally cause the maintenance program to be far behind.
OEM Supplies
Due to unplanned maintenance, MRO businesses often run into problems obtaining OEM supplies. This is because an increase in the quantity of work done due to unscheduled maintenance of 50% may very well correlate to a comparable amount of rise in the demand for spare parts (Samaranayake & Kiridena, 2012). This void in the market for replacement parts presents an opportunity for other businesses to outsource the acquisition of spare parts; however, it is possible that these other businesses do not have the appropriate safety standards in place to certify these spares. There are imitation products on the market that might compromise safety requirements, and technicians could accidentally install these imitations, which could lead to mishaps. Fake components have been shown to be the cause of similar incidents in the past. According to estimates provided by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a total of 166 accidents that took place between May 1973 and April 1993 were caused by phony components (The Irish Times, 2013). Because of these figures, MRO businesses could be dissuaded from outsourcing the production of replacement parts, which would slow down the turnaround time for airplanes.
Another issue that can arise with original equipment manufacturer (OEM) supplies is the possibility that maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) companies or airline operators will ask for spare parts that are of their own design. For instance, redesigning seat buckles could save millions of dollars in fuel costs over the lifetime of an aircraft (Albakkoush et al, 2020). Because waiting to get these parts may take anywhere from six months to a year, airplanes sometimes have to be stored at maintenance and repair organizations (MROs). These kinds of supply worries have a significant impact on scheduling and provide difficulties for MRO businesses since delays are prolonged and capacity is reduced inside an organization.
Turnaround Time
Refueling, cargo loading, cabin cleaning, and aircraft inspection are a few examples of turnaround operations that must be completed (Aviationvi,2021). The aforementioned tasks typically take a jumbo jet one and a half hours to complete. Airlines would want to expedite the process as much as possible because while this time the aircraft is grounded, incurring fees for the carriers. According to reports, operators are working quickly to complete every activity that is necessary (Albakkoush et al, 2020). Systems like the Aircraft Health Monitoring (AHM) system are used to check and confirm maintenance issues, and any potential problems are quickly identified and resolved as soon as possible. However, there may be delays during the correction or inspections, and these delays add up and push back the scheduled maintenance slots (A-Check and B-Check), where they are carried out at specified gate locations and A-Check can last for up to 10 hours and B-Check can last up to a day (Saltoglu et al, 2016). A delay of a few hours can result in the technicians having less time to do the maintenance. Any small delay affects the maintenance operation because line maintenance is typically a busy task involving multiple aircraft. The average number of aircraft serviced by operators per hour to hour and a half was 20. A maintenance worker who delays by 15 minutes during an A-check can account for a delay of nearly one month. causing scheduling difficulties.
Collepals.com Plagiarism Free Papers
Are you looking for custom essay writing service or even dissertation writing services? Just request for our write my paper service, and we'll match you with the best essay writer in your subject! With an exceptional team of professional academic experts in a wide range of subjects, we can guarantee you an unrivaled quality of custom-written papers.
Get ZERO PLAGIARISM, HUMAN WRITTEN ESSAYS
Why Hire Collepals.com writers to do your paper?
Quality- We are experienced and have access to ample research materials.
We write plagiarism Free Content
Confidential- We never share or sell your personal information to third parties.
Support-Chat with us today! We are always waiting to answer all your questions.
