We schedule maintenance on our bodies — annual check ups; on our cars — oil and filter changes; and on our homes — air duct cleaning and furnace inspections. But, most maintenance that occurs is not scheduled. An illness pops up that needs antibiotics; our cars break down due to a faulty or old part; and our furnaces go out in the middle of winter. One thing I have learned as an adult is to expect the unexpected and prepare for anything.
I recently was reminded of this. A car crashed into mine when they were making a right turn into the parking lot I was leaving. They slid on the snow and right into my driver’s side front and back doors and front tire. I have been without my car for 12 days now while it is being repaired at the body shop and I am told I have 10 more days to go or more. Now, I don’t know about you, but 22 days with an aircraft on ground is much too long to not be in service. But, I guess it is easier to get a car rental than an aircraft.
It really is no different for aircraft maintenance. We can keep to a strict schedule of maintenance activities but there is always, always, always going to be something that comes up unexpectedly. So – expect it!
When these unforeseen maintenance events occur, maintenance mobile response teams or rapid response teams are at the ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. There has been a lot of news recently about the expansion of mobile response teams and an increasing number of tasks they can handle “on the road.” So much so, that AMT had to break up this special feature into two parts. Part one starts on page 20 of this issue. While the follow up, namely, Part 2, will come along this spring. This month we talked to Burlington Air Center, Duncan Aviation and Standard Aero about how their teams are growing, adding capabilities and focusing on giving customers the quickest arrival time on site.
Now only if my doctor, car repair shop and home inspection company could be available as fast as aircraft maintenance mobile response teams…
