Not only are Aircraft Maintenance Programs a mandatory requirement for all aircraft, they also serve to ensure safe, reliable, and hopefully costâeffective operations.
The maintenance program no longer derives from the direct involvement of the manufacturer of the aircraft rather it is the output of a dedicated team of professionals called the Maintenance Review Board (MRB) working under the direct oversight and guidance of the Industry Steering Committee (ISC).
This does not mean the manufacturer does not have a role to play in fact the involvement is pivotal to the successful optimisation of the maintenance program source document the Maintenance Planning Document (MPD).
As the accumulated knowledge grows over time for a particular aircraft type, the manufacture is able to analyse the data to understand the in service performance, defects, deterioration’s and component failures. This data is typically subjected to statistical analysis to determine the need for improvements which translate as service bulletins. In addition positive data can support the escalation process of maintenance tasks.
Consider that the optimum maintenance requires us to ensure that we do the âcorrectâ amount of maintenance, doing too much is simply performing unnecessary work, wasting capital and resources and creating an exposure to unnecessary human factor errors.
The primary group within the organisation holding responsibility for the maintenance program is the Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation (CAMO) with responsibility for the delivery and oversight of the Maintenance Planning process as well as the Reliability Process.
It is the CAMO group, who must ensure at all times the aircraft, is fully compliant with all regulatory requirements including Airworthiness Directives (ADâs) as well as to manage Modifications (Modâs) Service Bulletins (SBâs), Life Limited Components (LLCâs) and Repairs.
If we are going to deliver an effective Aircraft Maintenance Planning optimisation process across the business we must make sure we are able to manage all elements of our program in the most effective way.
This is off course a âData Drivenâ process. It is the gathering and analysis of this data which provides the opportunity for optimisation. It follows that with the amount of Data under consideration we need a software to help with this task and there are many to choose from.!
We need to be able to deliver and have full oversight of all resources including materials and manpower.
We need to be able to manage the physical maintenance process bringing together the aircraft with the required documentation, tooling and labour.
Most importantly we need to be able to identify opportunities to improve the maintenance through put by gathering the appropriate financial & operational performance indicators, which we can employ to make effective management decisions.
Sofema Aviation Services provides EASA Regulatory compliant and vocational training. The next Maintenance Planning course is scheduled for delivery in Singapore  – 10th to 13th of January 2017.
For details about the training please see here:
Delivering Effective Aircraft Maintenance Planning Processes â 4 Days â Singapore
