How to Prepare Your Maintenance Operations for New Aircraft
Investing in new aircraft is an essential step for airlines and charter providers of all sizes.
New technologies and innovations enhance safety, reduce operational costs and provide a better overall passenger experience for customers.
These investments can also create challenges for the company’s maintenance arm if they’re not properly prepared to handle the new aircraft and keep them in operation.
Sun Air Jets recently added a Bombardier Global 7500 and Gulfstream G650ER to its fleet, enhancing the company’s long-range aircraft offerings. Rob Cox, Executive Vice President and Director of Maintenance for Sun Air Jets met up with AMT at NBAA-BACE to explain how he prepared for the new aircraft and what steps directors of maintenance should consider when the fleet evolves.
Joe Petrie: How are you preparing your maintenance operations to integrate these two new aircraft into operations for Sun Air Jets?
Rob Cox: Fortunately, I'm lucky enough to have a hangar full of experienced guys. Prior to the aircraft coming, we focused on factory training. We did factory training on both. There's more than one or two technicians in my organization that have training on these two aircraft.
These aircraft just are of the next step in aircraft that we previously had. It's a minor step for us to take all these new types of aircraft, these new model aircraft in the same lineage as the other aircraft we've had before. We have the equipment and tooling and resources to do that. Also, it's a great resource to have the manufacturers so we lean on them.
JP: It’s a small step, but there is more sophisticated equipment on board. How do you ensure your technicians are prepared to handle these upgrades?
RC: That's where the factory training comes in. We rely on primarily FlightSafety for the training. When these aircraft come new from the factory, they come with training slots as part of the purchase agreement. We still have some more training to do going into next year for both aircraft and as a company. We do continuously training as we go on every two years. Most of the time it's factory training or other related courses like avionic style development courses. We take these small steps forward and it's manageable.
JP: As the maintenance director, how do you ensure the ongoing maintenance program for these two aircraft to ensure they keep in operation as much as possible?
RC: The approach to a new aircraft doesn't change much compared to older aircraft or a legacy aircraft. You want to make sure that we have the equipment, the proper test equipment and everything that we need to maintain it. We just opened up a new big facility in Van Nuys last year, so that helps out. The approach doesn't change much from plane to plane other than training the right people.
JP: What steps do you take to ensure you have the right equipment in the shop?
RC: When you're taking delivery of an aircraft, they'll provide you with a list of the necessary equipment and tooling and give you access to it. You may not have to go out and purchase every single piece of it, but we do have access to it at our fingertips. In Van Nuys, most of the equipment we already had from previous aircraft and some of the ground support equipment we've already had. We do have to add some specialty stuff for particular aircraft, but it's pretty minimal.
JP: These are long-range aircraft. Does this influence your approach to overall maintenance of the aircraft?
RC: We don't have any choice other than to do the manufacturer's maintenance program. We follow the approved maintenance plan. They fly a long time before a lot of scheduled maintenance is done. So the upkeep, the servicing, the tires, the pre flights and stuff like that, databases and charts, that's ongoing stuff, but it's not much different than some of the legacy aircraft.
JP: How does this impact your spare parts strategy as an operation to ensure you’re well stocked?
And what does this do as far as your approach to spare parts? I mean, how does that impact your
RC: There are some strategic spare parts, usually wheels, some of the high failure items or high usage items, consumable type of items to stock. Other than that, the manufacturers do a really good job of housing that stuff and stocking that stuff. Gulfstream has a warehouse in Van Nuys, which is right around the corner from our hanger. So we visit that whenever we need to.
The manufacturers have representatives at the airport that have access to all that sort of things, so we rely on the manufacturer quite a bit, especially with the aircraft is new for support.
JP: The aircraft technology might now be a big leap for you, but how have you prepared for advanced technology and predictive analytics on your new aircraft?
RC: We utilize a little bit of the predictive stuff, especially when it comes to FDR downloads and programs and stuff like that. It can be a tool you use in troubleshooting. A lot of times you'll get issues that only happen in-flight and you can't produce them on the ground. You can go and analyze that data or access that data to help you see what's happening in flight and help you diagnose it and do what's right for the aircraft. From a technology standpoint, the aircraft with the onboard computers, you can download fault files and you can download history histories, files. There's a lot of tools with the new aircraft that we can use and those downloads, in most cases, we'll send to the manufacturer. They'll help us decipher it, point to what's going on, and then lead us down the path to fix the airplane.
JP: As Sun Air Jets continues to diversify its fleet and add new aircraft, what role do you try to have as a maintenance director in influencing these investments to ensure it’s something the company can prepare for?
RC: It's about being an advocate for the technicians in the form of training, tooling, supplies, facilities, and taking somewhat of a no budget sort of approach to this. It's a safety matter, and like I said, preparing in advance before the airplanes come is great. At the core of that is training. It all starts with the training, technician training.
JP: What other training does that include outside of what the OEM provides?
RC: We have a lot of SMS-style training for the mechanics. There's human factors. There's a whole litany of training requirements that we do on an annual basis for the technicians that are non-aircraft specific. Company specific, industry specific. Just good safety training. Good common sense maintenance training.
JP: What is the most important piece of advice you’d give to other maintenance directors who need to prepare their shop when the company makes an investment in new aircraft?
RC: I would say utilize the training. Take advantage of it. Invest in technician training. A lot of companies out there don't have the resources or the money to do it. Sometimes maintenance training is not mandatory. Anybody with an A&P license can work on any aircraft as long as they have the maintenance manual and the tooling to do it. it's imperative that the mechanics in the leadership positions leads, DOMs, whoever it may be in each organization, push that and believe in it. There's people out there that don't necessarily see a lot of value in it. I disagree. You get the trainer, use the training. There are a few organizations out there that do supply formal training for aircraft and don't take it for granted.
