Aviation Maintenance Management - Article Example

Aviation Maintenance Management Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Aviation Maintenance Management 2 Maintenance Program 2 Organizational 2 Intermediate 2 Depot 3 Maintenance Activities 3 Inspection 3 Quality Assurance 4 Purchase and Repair Order Management 5 Warranty Management 5 Delivery Management 6 Document Management 6 Development of Maintenance Programs 6 Requirements for a Maintenance Program 7 Human Factor Training 7 Aviation Industry Certification Requirements 9 Task Cards 10 The Maintenance and Engineering Organization 10 Recommendations 11 Conclusion 11 Aviation Maintenance Management Aviation maintenance includes repairs, alterations and preservation of aircrafts in an air worthy condition. Aircraft maintenance is carried out to enhance safety, preserve the value of service delivery, reduce downtime, attain the capability of operating at excellent form, extend the life support of the internal components and ensure compliance to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. All these tasks are managed through a maintenance program. Maintenance Program A maintenance program is comprised of a schedule of maintenance tasks, which have a documented management procedure that dictates how the scheduled maintenance task would be managed. An aircraft is served with an airworthiness certificate after thorough research, design and testing. Each aircraft requires distinct maintenance tasks due to variation in service delivery and components. Aviation maintenance and management process consists of three levels namely organizational, intermediate and depot (Kinnison, 2004). Organizational This is the routine maintenance carried out by a performing unit in undertaking the normal daily operations. Such operations include servicing, handling, inspections, record keeping and reports preparation among others. Intermediate According to Kinnison, (2004), the intermediate level is characterized by consistency in the equipment material support. This is the maintenance that is performed by certain maintenance strategies and supports the aircraft organizations. The activities performed in this level improve the aircraft efficiency through the provision of quality material support at the required location, and at reasonable resource use. This maintenance level is widely applicable in aircraft activities such as combat readiness and mission support. Depot This is the maintenance undertaken in the industrial establishments to improve the flying integrity of aircrafts and the flight systems during subsequent operations. They perform overall aircraft and material maintenance, assemblies, sub-assemblies and end times. Some of the activities involved include repair of engines and components. Maintenance Activities Inspection The forms of inspection activities that are conducted during maintenance management include; daily inspection, turn around inspection, conditional inspection, phase inspection, acceptance inspection and transfer inspection (Janic, 2000). This serves to detect any defects at a greater depth compared to turn around or post flight inspections. Daily inspection is valid for 72 hours provided there are no flights or other maintenance practices being conducted on the aircraft during the process. Daily inspection gives way for an aircraft to function for a maximum of 24 hours without interruption. The turn around inspection is conducted between flights to ensure the suitability of the aircraft for flight. The inspection is also conducted to confirm proper servicing and detect any malfunction that may have occurred during the previous flight. The inspection is valid for a range of 24 hours provided no flight or servicing is performed during that time. Conditional inspection is an unscheduled activity undertaken when an unexpected condition occurs such as bird strike or hard landing. The phase inspection breaks down the scheduled inspection activities into phases that are performed at different intervals. This cycle is normally repetitive during the aircraft cycle and is not affected by flight or servicing operations. Acceptance inspection is carried out by newly assigned aircraft custodians. It includes an inventory of the equipments listed in the Aircraft Inventory Records (AIR), daily inspection and configuration verification activities. Transfer inspection is performed during handing over of aircraft equipment and involves measures such as hydraulic fluid sampling and daily inspection. A comprehensive inspection operation is Aircraft Service Period Adjustment (ASPA) that is carried out by evaluators and is meant to evaluate the depot level of the aircraft’s maintenance condition. The maintenance program also includes the Functional Check Flight (FCF) to establish whether the airframe, power plant, equipment and accessories are effectively functioning to the expected standards in relation to the exposure, in predestined operation environment. The process is conducted after other inspection measures have been conducted or the aircraft has not flown for thirty days for any reason. Weight and balance program is also included in the maintenance exercise. The program is applied in service activities characterized by a standard system of weight measure and balance control. The program recommends the maximum operating weights, safe loading methods and center of gravity restrictions. The specifications are then utilized in updating the aircraft records. Quality Assurance Quality assurance (QA) is a common measure that is undertaken during aircraft maintenance programs. The role of quality assurance is to prevent the occurrence of defects. The success of quality assurance depends on prevention capabilities and knowledge. According to the U.S. Dept. of Transportation (2010), the QA audits can either be special or quarterly. Special audits are conducted to evaluate certain maintenance tasks, procedures, processes and programs. Maintained copies of special audits are valid for one year and readily presented to a new supervisor or work center on request. The quarterly audits are conducted quarterly to ascertain the overall efficiency of aircraft management and maintenance centers. The process involves evaluation of components such as personnel, logs and records, and licenses. Quality assurance is undertaken by QA personnel that include quality assurance representatives (QAR), who certifies that they have personally inspected the activity involved and that it has strictly followed the set standards. The collateral duty quality assurance representative (CDQAR) is assigned on a temporary or permanent basis and normally relieves the QARs when they are out for official reasons. The collateral duty inspector (CDI) ensures that all the production activities in different manufacturing centers comply with the required maintenance standards (Boulet, Mckinley, Whelan and Hambleton, 2003). Purchase and Repair Order Management This involves creating, printing and tracking the purchase orders by the aircrafts and the vendors (Kinnison, 2004). A detailed financial report on procurement and service expenses is prepared. The report should show the expenses meted on the aircraft service activities, workers and other miscellaneous functions such as office supplies. Purchase management eliminates any financial mismanagement that may deny the maintenance programs the required resources to acquire equipments and compensate the personnel. The most eminent section of financial analysis is the cost analysis. This is whereby the component procurement history is analyzed the part cost compared and the ordering norms outlined. This feature streamlines the procurement processes as well as the planning and budgeting for aircraft maintenance. Warranty Management The warranties for both installed and stocked components are tracked and the information presented to the inventory controller. The controller compiles a report based on the repairs that should and should not be compensated by maintenance management board. Warranty management also provides the effective information required in the process of warranty claim through the provision of options necessary to print the claim according to the suppliers’ original format requirements. Delivery Management The section ensures that each shipment is tracked from the packaging time to delivery time. Some of the documents printed for delivery management include packing slips and border custom invoices. This enables the follow up of any delivery discrepancies that characterize delivery of aircraft components. Document Management Maintenance operations involve the use of paper work. However, various on-line tools are applied in minimizing the accumulation of paperwork. The transaction information involved in the purchase and procurement of maintenance components is tracked and documented online. Some of the documents attached in the computer programs include FAA forms, invoices, component pictures and inspection video files (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, 2008). The information is saved in the organization’s database. This ensures safety, security and availability of the stored data. Maintenance information is derived from various documents such as maintenance planning document (MPD), component maintenance manual (CMM), service bulletin and service information manual. Development of Maintenance Programs The principle purpose of aircraft maintenance program is ensuring the safety of the humans that come into contact with an aircraft. According to the U.S. Dept. of Transportation (2010), the maintenance programs are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The program is responsible for regulations and governing the documentation, surveillance of the maintenance functions of general aviation, airmen (repairmen, mechanics and parachute diggers), avionics, maintenance requirements, performance standards and practice required for ensuring the airworthiness of aircrafts. Requirements for a Maintenance Program As outlined in the U.S. Dept. of Transportation (2010), the control of aircraft management program provision is outlined in part 302 of maintenance program approval in FAA regulations. A maintenance program should be composed of efficient personnel and workforce to ensure efficiency. Such personnel include the maintenance officer, who presides over a department and makes sure that it accomplishes its mission. The maintenance officer is has a responsibility of defining and assigning duties among the personnel. The aircraft management officer assists the maintenance officer in management of the maintenance department. The material control officer is responsible for the production and material support of the department. The officer coordinates and monitors the department’s workload and connects the supported activities and supply to ensure efficiency. The material control officer manages the tool control program and regulates the supply of materials involved in aircraft maintenance activities. There is no idealized organizational structure for management of maintenance programs. The organization should possess features such as independent quality audit and appropriate management levels. Efficiency is also guaranteed by reasonable numbers of qualified personnel, efficient reporting lines within airworthiness management structure and appropriate structures that promotes unity and liaison in role play. Maintenance programs are carried out by human factors implying that the personnel training should be considered as the first priority in developing a maintenance program. Human Factor Training The human factor training should be related to the awareness on the issues associated with airworthiness and safety, both from a technical and non-technical viewpoint (Hackworth, 2007). The non-technical training addresses the strategies that ensure that maintenance work is undertaken professionally such that the airplane being released to the service is airworthy. Hackworth, (2007) posits that the aim of human factor training involves imparting knowledge, developing appropriate skills, influencing the personnel attitude and influencing their behavior. The daily activities of the company should support the training concept to ensure success as the trainees will apply the theoretical concepts into practice. Training should be conducted to all employees including managers, supervisors, technicians, mechanics, technical personnel, and contract staff among others. A trainer should be an experienced intellectual who has attended an acceptable Human Factors training course, received additional instructions in training and has experience in training. Management programs consists of an array of activities whose synergy improves the aircraft’s efficiency (Garg, Amik and Deshmukh, 2006). Maintenance program should always be capable of assessing the current airworthiness state of any aircraft. Any maintenance practice would not be successful if it does not guarantee the airworthiness of an aircraft. A permanent record of every flight activity is necessary to ensure that the set flight standards for each aircrafts are followed strictly to ensure safety. The maintenance programs should allow for the integration of the flight information specifications and safety requirements. The programs should prioritize the aircraft’s flight schedule in the maintenance calendar to ease maintenance scheduling. The time quality control system should be efficient to ensure that flight and maintenance schedule matches. The program should be able to generate work cards with complete procedures and signoffs. This ensures that the aircraft safety is prioritized at all management levels. The documentation involved in the maintenance program should allow the viewing of the aircraft due list at a certain projection period. The worker order information of the aircraft should also be represented in the program at all times to ensure that the service and flight calendar does not conflict. Effective maintenance programs also portray the personnel responsibilities to curb role discrepancy and delay. Aviation Industry Certification Requirements Air craft certification involves processes such as aircraft registration, airworthiness certification, international aircraft certification and design approvals. An aircraft is served with an airworthiness certificate after satisfactory research, design and testing. The aircraft is required to be maintained in accordance with certification requirements in order to keep the certificate valid. According to U.S. Dept. of Transportation (2010), the aviation specifications are formulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and found in part 43 of the regulations. The regulations cover the general safety of the pilots, passengers and innocent bystanders who may be affected due to improper maintenance. The development and safety of air commerce is regulated by the federal aviation act of 1958 that provides a benchmark upon which all aspects of aviation safety are defined. This gave rise to Part 43 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) that controls the maintenance, preventive maintenance, alterations or rebuilding of the air crafts (FAR/AIM 2011, (2011 Ed.). This regulation covers the mechanic, air carrier, repairman and the pilot’s certificate. The maintenance program uses an aircraft log book that includes the history of the aircraft with specifications such as non-aging records, inspection records, flight time, miscellaneous history, and repair and rework sections, technical directive section and installed explosives section among other information. The log book should cover operation history of the aircrafts to guide servicing; ensures safety in flights. The personnel authorized to sign aircraft log books include the commanding officer, intermediate, depot and organizational level directors of operations and operation manager (Hackworth, 2007). Task Cards The scheduled maintenance tasks are normally outlined on task cards. The task cards are used by the supplier to control the maintenance activities at delivery points i.e. line or hangar. Task cards contain the inspection standards. The task card development process should satisfy the approved procedures, facilitate traceability in all cases, subject to independent audit and should accommodate additional maintenance data. There are two forms of task cards; Maintenance Requirement Cards (MRCs) and Periodic information requirement cards (PMICs) (Patankar and Taylor, 2004). The MRCs provides instructions for the efficient performance of the planned operation tasks. Each card consists of the tasks related to the targeted system, subsystem, component or area at a logical sequence of operation. The card also specifies the rating of the personnel to be involved in maintenance, time and the work location. Additional content of MRCs include a list of the support equipments required, replacement parts, replacement parts, consumables, and the assistance requirements for the task performance. On the other hand, the PMICs identify the scheduled removal items and their replacement periods. Their contents include assembly removal and component, conditional inspections and airframe structural limits among others. The Maintenance and Engineering Organization The maintenance and engineering organization recognizes and optimizes the aspects that affect the human routine involved in maintenance. The focus originates from the technician and stretches to the engineers and managers. The personnel role in maintenance includes activities such as qualification selection, training, professionalism, motivation and health. Other roles include the analysis of human resource strengths and weaknesses that affect the job performance in maintenance. For every one hundred hours that an aircraft engages in flight, aviation maintenance process must be carried out. The certification requirements also propose that the aircraft should have a yearly inspection schedule, in addition to a scheduled upkeep, being carried out by licensed aviation maintenance technicians (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, 2010). Recommendations An effective maintenance and management program should be able to regulate the operating costs, enhance safety, reduce downtime, preserve the service value and operate at peak performance. The program should be able to receive regular reports and feedbacks and maintain the compliance to the regulations. The management should ensure that the program offers timely alerts for corrective action, personalize service and support, extend the functional life of the internal aircraft components, and possess the potential to allow emergency inspections. The time quality control system should be efficient to ensure that flight and maintenance schedule matches. Finally, the program should be able to generate work cards with complete procedures and signoffs. Conclusion A maintenance program is a combination of scheduled maintenance tasks as well as management strategies. The effectiveness and applicability of a maintenance program is a product of integrated organization structure and trained personnel with management capabilities the scheduled tasks. The management process is crucial in that the scheduled activities are meaningless without the management process. References Boulet, J., Mckinley, D., Whelan, G., & Hambleton, R. (2003). Quality Assurance Methods For Performance-Based Assessments. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 8(1), 27-47. FAR/AIM 2011, (2011 Ed.). Federal aviation regulations, aeronautical information manual : Rules and procedures for general aviation, sport pilots, and instructors. (2010). Newcastle, Wash.: Aviation Supplies & Academics. Garg, A., & Deshmukh. (2006). Maintenance management: literature review and Directions. Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, 12(3), 205-238. Hackworth, C. A. (2007). An international survey of maintenance human factors programs. Washington, DC: Office of Aerospace Medicine, Federal Aviation Administration. Janic, M. (2000). An assessment of risk and safety in civil aviation. Journal of Air Transport Management, 6(1), 43-50. Kinnison, H. A. (2004). Aviation maintenance management. New York: McGraw-Hill. Patankar, M. S., & Taylor, J. C. (2004). Risk management and error reduction in aviation Maintenance. Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Ashgate. U.S. Dept. of Transportation (2008). Air carrier maintenance programs. Washington, D.C. Federal Aviation Administration. U.S. Dept. of Transportation (2010). FAA's oversight of American Airlines' maintenance Programs Federal Aviation Administration. Washington, D.C., Office of the Secretary of Transportation, Office of Inspector General. Read More