Air Transport Engineering Maintenance Operations

摘要

Safe and effective operation of aircraft is essential for operators. If aircraft is not available for service due to mechanical or electrical failure, operators' expenses increase.rnAir transport engineering (ATE) is a discipline that deals with interdependent availability, reliability and maintainability of aircraft applying technology and scientific principles to the planning, functional design, operation and management of aircraft facilities to provide safe and efficient aircraft operation.rnThe purposes of maintenance engineering are to meeting maintenance performance optimization, maintenance cost reduction and continuing airworthiness requirements.rnThe world commercial aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) market, consisting of four sub-markets: engine maintenance, component maintenance, line maintenance and heavy maintenance visit (HMV), is predicted to reach a value of $50 billion this year and will experience growth over the next decade. The MRO market 2014 - 2024 studies point out that newer aircraft, which require less maintenance than older one now coming into retirement age, will require MRO providers to invest in new facilities, training techniques and tooling to attain certification.rnEach aircraft requires surveillance and ongoing maintenance to guarantee airworthiness of the aircraft, to ensure good technical condition of the aircraft enabling flight operations without technical interruptions, and to maximize value of airframe, engines and components asset.rnAircraft maintenance checks are split into three groups: line checks, base checks and heavy checks. There are two kinds of maintenance systems available. One is the pyramidal system where a set of tasks is planned for a particular interval and another set of tasks is added at the next multiple of this basic interval. The benefits of this system are that a fixed set of tasks are allocated and it can be completed within the time frame without much variation. However in this system the aircraft will be out of service for a long period of time and the workload for the maintenance staff will be subjected to cyclical variations leaving them idle at times until the next aircraft comes for maintenance. The other available option is a progressive or equalized maintenance system where large checks are broken down into smaller checks of equal size and carried out more frequently. The checks can be small enough to be carried out overnight and this will allow the workload for the maintenance personnel to be more constant.rnThis paper explains the principles of maintenance engineering design for reliable service, explores variety of aircraft maintenance philosophies used for in-service aircraft and outlines the principles of maintenance operations, maintenance management, regulatory, and human factors and safety in maintenance.