Aviation Week & Space Technology - 3 November 2014

I

f we were to step back and

look at MRO logically—and

holistically—would we struc-

ture it as it is now? Probably not.

A Logical Look

Individual airlines, maintenance

facilities, engine test cells and back-

shops can streamline processes and

insert technologies to make MRO

functions more efcient, but obstruc-

tions hold us back.

For instance, look at the contract

language—can you protect your

company but do so without adding

verbiage that prevents you from get-

ting to a deal quicker?

Audits serve a very useful purpose,

but do companies need to undergo

dozens each year to ensure quality

systems? At some point do we need to

enhance quality—rather than audit it?

How much advantage is actually

gained by having each airline tailor

standard maintenance programs to

its “unique” operations? Or asked

another way, by optimizing reliabil-

ity through a customized program,

how much lower are costs than those

under a standardized maintenance

program? (I’m anticipating some air-

line wrath from this one, but it’s im-

portant to understand the tradeof.)

Perhaps these are utopian ques-

tions, but let’s tackle a big one:

regulatory harmonization—beyond

bilaterals.

Think of the advantages that could

stem from harmonization.

For instance, national regulatory

systems continue to develop their

own aircraft technical requirements

that add substantial costs when

transferring aircraft across borders

(see page MRO18). This lack of har-

monization does not enhance safety.

While industry organizations such as

the Aviation Working Group, ICAO

and IATA are working on harmoniz-

ing some of the cross-border trans-

ferability and airworthiness issues,

there are multiple layers to tackle

and not one unified plan.

“The result is a significant amount

of maintenance being re-performed to

satisfy the new lessee requirements,

which costs the old lessee and the

lessor,” says David Marcontell, Team-

SAI president and COO, with whom I

spoke at the Aeronautical Repair Sta-

tion Association’s Strategic Leader-

ship Conference in Montreal Oct. 16.

ARSA, which is celebrating its

30th anniversary, does a terrific job

of advocating for repair stations and

assisting them in diferentiating be-

tween regulatory compliance and

business demands.

Part of the impediment is educa-

tion, so ARSA is developing an on-

line regulatory compliance training

program to assist the industry—and

eventually it plans to “establish the

world aviation regulatory compli-

ance schematic, because we have to

figure out a way for all these countries

that need MRO services to use any

organization in the world without un-

necessary expenditures of either time

or money,” says Sarah MacLeod, the

association’s executive director.

Actions such as these would make

MRO a less-complicated business.

Let’s take more holistic steps. c

—Lee Ann Tegtmeier

Chief Editor MRO

This lack of harmonization

does not enhance safety.

Contents

MRO ASIA

MRO4 MRO Asia Thought Leaders

Executives share their

insights on MRO in the region

MRO8 Power Play

Evergreen Aviation

Technologies Chairman

Michael Chang discusses

engine joint venture

MRO10 Moving On?

Will MAS Engineering be put

up for sale?

MRO15 MRO Help Wanted

Looking at how the Asia-

Pacific region will find enough

maintenance professionals to

keep up with fleet growth

OPERATIONS

MRO16 Easing Leasing Transfers

Varied regulations,

documentation requirements

cost the airline industry time

and money

AVIONICS

MRO22 Chasing No Fault Found

Better data analytics, fault

isolation and predictive

maintenance tools target

rogue avionics units

COMPOSITES

MRO31 Bolt-On Repairs

Views diverge on bonded

repairs to primary composite

structures

PAINT

MRO32 Coatings Conglomerate

Going Global

Next steps could be in Asia,

Middle East or OEM work

ENGINE ANALYSIS

MRO34 Growth Mode

As the CFM56 order book

cools, the aftermarket heats up

SAFETY &

REGULATORY NEWS

MRO38 Serious Business

MRO40 Signing Off

MRO42 Working Tired

MRO LINKS

MRO44 Aerospace Leasing Services

Cover photo: ST Aerospace

The next issue of the MRO Edition

will be dated Dec. 1/8.

Keep up with Tegtmeier on

MRO’s blog: AviationWeek.com/mro

and on Twitter: @AvWeekMRO

MRO Edition MAINTENANCE CHECK

AviationWeek.com/mro AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION NOVEMBER 3/10, 2014 MRO3

Follow our MRO Asia coverage from

Singapore at AviationWeek.com/MRO

圀漀爀氀搀䴀愀最猀⸀渀攀琀圀漀爀氀搀䴀愀最猀⸀渀攀琀

圀漀爀氀搀䴀愀最猀⸀渀攀琀