Aircraft maintenance

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organisations like a Part 145 Maintenance Organisation needs to be recorded. The details of the type and composition of the aircraft fleet managed must be detailed. The duties and responsibilities of the Accountable Manager, that is the one that has overall responsibility for meeting the requirements of Part M. The Continuing Airworthiness Manager, that is the nominated post holder for continuing airworthiness and the Quality Manager, person responsible for the quality monitoring programme and contracted maintenance support must also have their responsibilities documented. An organisation chart that includes activities that have been sub contracted needs to be included. The details of the manager who is responsible for the review and amendment of the Continuing Airworthiness Management Exposition (CAME) needs to be submitted to the competent authority for approval prior to incorporation in the CAME.

3.2 Continuing Airworthiness Management Procedures

This will cover the aircraft tech log utilisation, Minimum Equipment List (MEL) application and the aircraft maintenance programme. The maintenance programme needs to be submitted to the CAA for approval and if it is developed by a maintenance organisation it has to be submitted through the operator for approval. Copies of the maintenance programme will be held by the operator's continuing airworthiness manager, all contracted Part 145 Maintenance Organisations and the CAA. Liaison meetings between the Continuing Airworthiness Manager/Accountable Manager and the contracted Part 145 Maintenance Organisations need to be held once in 6 months to discuss and review the effectiveness of the maintenance programme. Considerations and procedures for short term dry lease of aircraft by the operator need to be drawn out and the CAA needs to be informed by the Continuing Airworthiness Manager of the proposed lease before it takes place.

3.3 Quality System

The CAME needs to define the continuing airworthiness quality policy, planning and procedures to meet the requirements of Part M Subpart G. A quality audit procedure and the necessary remedial action after the audit process needs to be in place. The audit plan needs to cover the following: An assessment of the continuing airworthiness management activities against the procedures detailed in the CAME and the ability of the people in charge to discharge their responsibilities with respect to Part M requirements. A review of the effectiveness of the maintenance programme and the corrective action taken. Verification of the Part 145 Maintenance Organisations that the approval granted by the CAA/EASA is relevant to the maintenance being performed. Verification that all contracted maintenance is carried out in accordance with the contract, including sub-contractors used by the main contractor.

3.4 Contracted Maintenance

The details of the maintenance arrangement of an operator with a maintenance organisation need to be documented. The division of responsibility of these arrangements between the operator and the maintenance organisation together with the maintenance contracts for base, line and engine off wing support needs to be documented. The selection process for a maintenance contractor by an operator needs to be documented and then a verification of the maintenance organisation will be carried out by the Continuing Airworthiness Manager.

4.0 Airworthiness Review Procedures

The working procedures for the assessment of the airworthiness review staff need to be established. The experience, qualification and training of the Airworthiness Review Staff need to be documented and the necessary records of these staff have to be maintained. The airworthiness review staff must be acceptable to the competent authority with an application made to the CAA on EASA Form 4. The airworthiness review procedure will compose of a review of aircraft records and a physical survey of the aircraft by a suitably qualified person. The organisation's procedures for recommendation to competent authorities for the import of aircraft either used or new for the issue of an Airworthiness Certificate in accordance to Part 21 Subpart H needs to be documented. Also the communication procedures with the competent authority for the issue of an Airworthiness Review Certificate EASA Form 15a need to be clearly outlined. The Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation procedures for the issue of an Airworthiness Review Certificate EASA Form 15b, record keeping, distribution of Airworthiness Review Certificate copies, airworthiness review records retention and access need to be clearly spelt out in the Continuing Airworthiness Management Exposition (CAME).

5.0 Conclusion

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References
De Florio, Filippo. Airworthiness: an introduction to aircraft certification: a guide to understanding JAA, EASA, and FAA standards. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2006. EASA Regulations Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council. 20th February 2008 Commission Regulation (EC) No 2042/2003. 20th November 2003 On the continuing airworthiness of aircraft and aeronautical products, parts and appliances, and on the approval of organisations and personnel involved in these tasks EASA web page http://www.easa.eu.int/ws_prod/g/rg_regulations.php UK CAA http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=33&pagetype=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=1918 Wikipedia EASA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Aviation_Safety_Agency

Section A
The decision on whether, and how to outsource the continuing airworthiness and maintenance functions of an airline can be quite a complex one. Discuss the relevant issues that need to be considered and explain how you would make such a decision.

1.0 Introduction
The aviation industry is highly competitive and airlines must do all they can to keep costs down now. Outsourcing maintenance is seen as a way of keeping an airline's maintenance costs down. This essay will look at the factors that need to be considered on deciding whether or not to outsource the maintenance and continuing airworthiness functions of an airline and the criteria a maintenance repair organisation must meet.

2.0 Operator Characteristics

The first step will be to analyse what type of operator the airline is, whether is it a legacy carrier, a new start up airline, a low cost carrier, a charter operator or a cargo operator. Due to the different operational characteristics of these airlines a unique maintenance programme needs to be tailored for each type of operator. For example a charter operator will schedule their maintenance during the off peak periods whereas a legacy carrier needs to maintain a high level of availability of aircraft especially for long haul flights and a low cost carrier would need to schedule maintenance such that there is a high availability of aircraft during the day. The size of the fleet and types of aircraft operated are also points of consideration whether to outsource maintenance. If an airline has a large fleet of similar type of aircraft then it might be justifiable to have in-house maintenance facilities. An airline can choose to outsource all its maintenance activities including technical management or decide to keep some levels of maintenance in-house. Heavy maintenance, line maintenance, engine overhaul, component repair and overhaul, technical management and maintenance planning functions can all be outsourced. Airlines also need to consider whether to outsource functions that are critical to despatch reliability like line maintenance and maintenance control. Airlines that already have in-house capability for some levels of maintenance can continue to carry on and outsource work that they do not have capability for. Heavy maintenance is labour intensive and incurs high capital costs for hangar space, jacks and rigs. Engine overhaul requires special expertise and is high in material costs. Engine manufacturers give good power by the hour deals and these high tech and special repairs would be better if outsourced as the expertise from the manufacturer is available. The maintenance of aircraft components is high on capital costs due to the investment in test equipment required hence it would be more efficient to outsource this maintenance for better efficiency and the component repair facility would have the specialised skills on hand.

3.0 Investment Costs

If an airline outsources maintenance its capital investment in building space for hangars and equipment will be lower and the overheads on maintenance staff like technicians, engineers and managers will also be greatly reduced. With outsourced maintenance the airline would not be burdened by large up front investments for the purchase of a maintenance facility and the necessary equipment. Also the airline would not have to worry about the selection and training of maintenance personnel.

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operates because of work done on similar aircraft belonging to other operators. This will give the maintenance organisation better product knowledge and with this expertise the management of the maintenance would be better. The experience levels on the different types of maintenance would be much higher resulting in shorter times required to perform the maintenance. With these shorter times for maintenance it will enable the maintenance organisation to perform the maintenance tasks at a lower cost compared to an airline carrying out its own maintenance. However an airline with a large fleet of aircraft can also enjoy this benefit if the maintenance is conducted in-house.

5.0 Fleet Development

As an airline develops its network and operates to newer and further destinations newer aircraft need to be procured. These new aircraft would either be larger to meet the higher passenger demands or designed for long range operations. If an airline carries out its own maintenance it needs to acquire new equipment to maintain these new aircraft types and its old maintenance equipment would become obsolete. The airline would also need to provide training for the maintenance staff to be competent to maintain these new aircraft types and the airline also needs to make an application to the competent authority to certify its capability to carry out maintenance on these new aircraft types. With an increased fleet size the airline would need to acquire a larger maintenance facility thus incurring more expenses. Therefore outsourcing maintenance for a developing airline would be a good option as it can acquire more aircraft without having to incur extra expenses. If the current maintenance provider for the airline cannot handle the capacity of the new aircraft the airline can source for another maintenance provider.

6.0 Advancement of Technology

As technology develops newer aircraft will be fitted with more advanced equipment. To maintain these equipment new maintenance equipment will need to be acquired and there will also be new maintenance procedures that need to be followed. To equip the maintenance staff with the necessary skills to use the sophisticated equipment to carry out maintenance effectively they would need to undergo further training. Hence if an airline outsources its maintenance it would not be faced with the additional capital costs to acquire maintenance equipment and the costs incurred to send staff for further training.

7.0 Availability of resources

If an airline operates a small fleet of aircraft its maintenance staff will be faced with seasonal workloads when the aircraft undergoes maintenance. The airline would be incurring unnecessary costs by paying its maintenance staff who are not productive at all and the use of resources would not be maximised throughout the year. To solve this problem, the best solution would be to outsource the maintenance work When outsourcing maintenance work the location of the service provider must be considered carefully. If the service provider is on site it will be very convenient for the airline in terms of communication, the transport of spares, ensuring oversight and there would not be a need to ferry aircraft. Some airlines would arrange for its own parts to be used and problems maybe encountered during the shipment process. Some maintenance organisations might not have a good supply chain for spares and the aircraft might be sitting on the ground waiting for spares. Other maintenance organisations might look at an alternative option of fitting a bogus part on the aircraft. Hence the availability of spares and the receiving and inspection procedures before they are put on an aircraft are important considerations when selecting a maintenance provider.

8.0 Continuing Airworthiness Management

Even though maintenance is outsourced it is still the operator's responsibility that the aircraft complies with the regulatory requirements. Hence the airline still needs to maintain oversight and a level of control of the third party maintenance provider. Clear communication channels need to be established between the airline and maintenance provider so that the possibility of confusion arising would be minimal. If an airline decides to outsource its continuing airworthiness management tasks, a detailed list of responsibilities and the requirements the third party maintenance organisation needs to meet must be clearly drawn out. The following are the main points that must be in the maintenance agreement for sub contracting continuing airworthiness management.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Scope of work (Type of aircraft, engine types and components to be maintained) Maintenance programme development and amendment (Operator's responsibility to get authority's approval) Defined liaison with operator Quality monitoring by operator Embodiment of Airworthiness Directives, Service Bulletins and modifications Continuing airworthiness records (Operator is the owner of the document but it is maintained by the sub contracted organisation)

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other than costs must be looked into before deciding which organisation to outsource work to. Most airlines usually outsource heavy, engine and component maintenance to third party maintenance organisations. These maintenance organisations need to display that they have a strong commitment to quality and safety and have a robust quality assurance process in-house. A strong reputation of maintenance organisations built on these principles would make it more attractive to airlines to select them. An airline needs to draw out its forecasting and maintenance planning data and the necessary work scopes required. Only then will the airline be able to see what kind of service level it requires from a maintenance organisation. On site audits of the maintenance organisation should be carried out by the airline to evaluate the quality, workmanship, availability of hangar space, equipment, workshops and adequately trained certifying staff. The location of the maintenance facility will be an important decision because that will affect the availability of the aircraft and whether the competent authority will allow a ferry flight to a maintenance base far away in Asia. This is due to the higher risk of the longer flight time of an aircraft that requires maintenance. Also there will be a need to station staff at the maintenance facility to ensure oversight of the aircraft undergoing heavy maintenance. The maintenance organisation should not only have the capability and capacity to do heavy maintenance but should also be able to accommodate drop-in maintenance due to unexpected failures in the aircraft.

9.1 Service level agreement

Once the maintenance organisation is chosen the expectations of the operator and maintenance organisation need to be put in writing to avoid any misunderstandings. The airline needs to define the standardisation of the work it expects, that is in accordance with its standards. Usually when the first few aeroplanes undergo maintenance with the maintenance organisation both the airline and maintenance organisation must agree on an acceptable process of maintenance. This will be done by on site teams sent by the airline to monitor and evaluate the maintenance work. The outsourcing contract needs to clearly divide the responsibilities of the airline and maintenance organisation. The airline needs to specify that the maintenance takes place within a specified time frame and its on site personnel need to maintain a tight control. The airline must be allowed to make an in depth review of the invoices by the personnel who are on site who can verify the charges on the work done. There must be a clear line of communication between the airline and maintenance organisation. An example would be to have a designated person at the airline for all outsourcing contracts to avoid confusion. A strong partnership needs to be built with the operator and the maintenance organisation. For example the contract should not include turn around time penalties if the engine being worked on is not needed immediately. If the maintenance organisation exceeds expectations with a faster turn around time at a lower budget, the cost savings can be shared by both parties. Compatibility of IT software solutions with the maintenance organisation and the airline must exist. Airlines require these software solutions to monitor the progress and quality of outsourced maintenance as the airworthiness of the aircraft and equipment is under the airline's responsibility.

9.2 Review and feed back

The airline needs to make an in depth performance review of the maintenance organisation assessing the quality, reliability, turn around time and overall value. In turn the maintenance organisation needs to survey its airline customers on its turn around times, invoicing accuracy, accessibility, professionalism and understanding of the work. The differences in these opinions have to be reviewed and both the airline and maintenance organisation need to make the necessary changes and share best practices to improve.

10.0 Conclusion
A small airline with a small fleet of aircraft can outsource its maintenance to numerous different maintenance organisations. For example one for wheels and brakes, one for line maintenance, one for heavy maintenance and one for engines. The reason for doing so would be to obtain the lowest prices, though this might be seen like a big cost saving but it would be a burden for the airline to exercise oversight on the different maintenance organisations. It would be more practical to use a single maintenance provider who has a wide range of capability or sub contracts out its work to approved organisations. This will act like a one stop shop for airlines and it will be easier to exercise oversight. In short outsourcing maintenance reduces the risks and costs for an airline and helps it to run efficiently but oversight must always be maintained as the responsibility of the aircraft lies with the operator.

Section B
Considerable changes are occurring in the MRO industry on a global scale. Analyse the issues facing the MRO industry today, and how they will affect the market in the future.

1.0 Introduction
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