Maint Delay .qxp_GA News DEC06 12/12/2016 09:39 Page 1
Maintenance Delays & How To Avoid Them
from AvBuyer Magazine December 2016 “Yet there is a lack of proactive processmonitoring and forecasting of due-dates in order to schedule upcoming work with customers.” should be kept for the scheduled maintenance events), the result will lead to unfulfilled expectations. It becomes essential for the OEM to educate the aircraft owner as to the goal of an ‘unscheduled maintenance stop’ (i.e., to return the aircraft back into ‘revenue mode’), setting a clear understanding and harmonizing expectations of the OEM and the customer. A laundry list of pocketed unscheduled squawks must therefore always be received with the caveat, “time and workload permitting”.
Missing Proactivity
Who’s Fault Are They Anyway? It’s puzzling that in the dynamic relationship between OEMs, Service Centers and business jet owners there’s hesitation to smooth out the complexities, notes Andre Fodor. What are the solutions to fulfilling customer expectations when it comes to business jet maintenance? It’s interesting how new aircraft deliveries typically occur at year-end. There are several contributing factors to this, including companies realizing their profits in Q4 and determining the tax ramifications of making a large capital expenditure towards the end of the fiscal year. Here in the US, I believe the government is at fault for being ambiguous regarding valuable fiscal tools designed to motivate large purchases such as corporate aircraft; they should be available year round to foster earlier sales and allow for more early and mid-year deliveries. Yet the fault doesn’t rest solely with the government. The OEMs, hungry to eliminate the possibility of white tails on their ramps, are eager to discount pricing as the year progresses. If they were to correct their pricing from the early months of the year, there would perhaps be less hesitation from buyers to make a move earlier and sales would be spread more evenly throughout the year. The knock-on effect of the uneven spread of deliveries is less obvious, but significant. For example, aircraft tend to receive their airworthiness certificates in the same time period, which causes maintenance cycle clocks to begin ticking at the same time.
What’s the Solution? Maintenance scheduling can be harmonized; it just takes a little coaching. By working with operators and owners, the OEM can begin to spread out the jet’s certification and balance maintenance-due cycles. This solution would reduce the strain that causes an increase in labour costs and decreases the returnto-service quality. With education, any seasoned operator will see that offsetting inspections against the rest of the fleet will generate a quicker return-to-service – and hence lower the overall costs. Another coaching opportunity comes in teaching customers how to manage their expectations. It is acceptable particularly with brand-new airplanes – for customers to show up at service centers unannounced and expect prompt attention when a critical maintenance issue causes a potential AOG situation. When that same operator decides, having arrived at the facility, to have a variety of additional squawks containing non-critical items addressed (squawks that
So 12, 24 or 36 months later, you find many airplanes with maintenance coming due that flood the service centers with an uneven workload.
With a focused approach on global excellence and creativity, Andre Fodor has managed flight operations for the U.N. and Flight Options as well as being a senior demonstration pilot and instructor for Embraer Aircraft. He is currently the Vice President of Aviation for Johnsonville Sausage.
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Since a business jet’s maintenance clocks start ticking upon certification, it follows that the OEM has the information to predict upcoming scheduled maintenance events. Yet there is a lack of proactive process-monitoring and forecasting of due-dates in order to schedule upcoming work with customers. Through pre-planning, an OEM and its service center network can gain business and spread workload through its service centers to help clear bottlenecks. Incentives may be required to persuade customers to move their aircraft to a more distant (but less busy) shop, but again – through education – the benefits can be explained quite tangibly. On the flip side of the coin, however, customers must also be prepared to plan. Not scheduling shoptime in advance when it’s clear the maintenance due-date is approaching shows an amateur approach to aircraft management. (In our Flight Department we schedule inspections six months in advance, finetuning the exact date with the flight schedule.)
So, Who’s At Fault? It’s puzzling that in such a dynamic relationship between OEMs, Aircraft Maintenance Providers, Service Centers and Jet owners, there’s hesitation to reduce complexities. In a good marriage you have to invest, modify, tailor and settle many times as the relationship changes and matures. Aircraft ownership is no different – requiring long-term investment and commitment. Communication becomes essential. When nurtured coordination between all parties will fulfil your expectations and further your business through growth and positivity. That’s got to be worth working for!