How do Overhaul Services Ascertain that an Aircraft needs maintenance

Many times we wonder when our aircraft overhaul services department calls up saying that a particular aircraft will be taken off the roster for two days. No amount of arguing with them that this particular aircraft support services are not required at the moment as it is functioning well lands on a closed ear which shows their professionalism. Ensuring that there are a minimum number of maintenance stops is not just prudent for any aircraft support services but also required as per the law.

Safety should be the top most priority for any aircraft overhaul services with an experienced team of engineers with a wide range of knowledge and proper certifications and trainings done to ensure your aircraft becomes air worthy in the least possible amount of time and in a reasonable budget. On-site spare parts warehouse goes a long way in ensuring that such aircraft support services function as per your timeline.

Maintenance services are clubbed and defined as any inspection, service of the parts or the entire aircraft as well as the set of activities involved in determining the conditions required to achieve the desired outcome to restore the aircraft. This broad definition ensures that every time an aircraft takes to the skies, it is completely airworthy.

But any good aircraft overhaul services will break this broad definition down to its four components, namely a hard time, on-condition, condition monitoring and preventive maintenance. A hard time is assigned to a failure of preventive process which has led to the deterioration of parts. This may include partial or complete overhaul or replacement of parts as per the guidelines and directions prescribed.

An on-condition is also a failure of any part as per appropriate standards but it differs from hard time as the defective part has been identified before it stops working. The fundamental reasoning of any good aircraft overhaul services should be to remove an item before it fails rather than to fit and forget. Condition monitoring is based upon information on an item that is gained from experience and is analysed and interpreted to deem a part ready for replacement or servicing. Preventive maintenance on the other hand is the work performed at a predefined time to keep the aircraft airworthy.