Aviation Week & Space Technology - 3 November 2014

overhauls, as these are costly. But when

an engine comes of -wing for overhaul,

it takes 60 to 90 days. Aircraft and orig-

inal engines must generally be reunited

before moving on to the next operator.

Ryan estimates that major systems like

engines have to be removed from the

aircraft about 40% percent of the time.

GE and CFM Services tailor long-

term engine support agreements to

make it easier for carriers to enter

or exit when an aircraft changes op-

erators. And CFM has introduced

Portable Maintenance for Leasing

(PML) for continuously leased aircraft.

PMLs allow small and mid-sized op-

erators to pay maintenance reserves

once, not twice, to obtain the protec-

tion of OEM hourly support. GECAS

and one carrier have signed up so far,

and fi ve other airlines are interested.

Ryan says PML may help opera-

tors fi nancially, but it does not af ect

treatment of engines at lease return.

As with APUs, landing gear and other

components, the next operator must

be given fresh equipment with plenty

of life left in it.

Failure to plan for all these require-

ments leads to inadequate records or

insuf cient maintenance, and the defi -

ciencies must be remedied. Ryan reck-

ons a well-planned lease return should

take only six to eight weeks and cost his

own company only 120 person-days of

ef ort. But ill-planned returns can take

six months to a year, and can be very

costly for the lessee. “At $300,000 per

month, that’s up to $3.6 million, on top

of the maintenance,” Ryan notes.

Enda Clarke, chief technical of cer

at Santos Dumont, strongly agrees

with Ryan. “The first major issue is

planning.” Clarke says planning should

ideally start when the lease begins, but

must start at least a year before return.

“They have to look in detail at the re-

delivery conditions, what maintenance

has to occur and what qualifying main-

tenance events are,” Clarke stresses.

The fi rst object of solid return planning

is to meet minimum redelivery condi-

tions. Carriers also can seek to meet

somewhat higher standards by drawing

on their maintenance reserves; that is,

they deposit MRO reserves with the

lessor, and are allowed to draw some of

them back if they meet certain above-

minimum conditions. “Go to the lessor,

be open and honest,” Clarke urges.

“There are cost savings to be had.”

Some operators start planning for

return three months out, thinking it

requires an ordinary C check. Clarke

says there is much more to be done.

Additional work may include removal

MRO Edition

MRO18 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION NOVEMBER 3/10, 2014 AviationWeek.com/mro

OPERATIONS

I

ndustry groups are certainly aware of

end-of-lease challenges. IATA sees

three major structural challenges in

transferring aircraft at lease-end, ac-

cording to Chris Markou, assistant di-

rector of engineering and environment.

First, dif ering regulatory requirements

among jurisdictions complicates and

delays moving aircraft to operators in

dif erent countries. Second, lack of stan-

dardization and clarity in lease-return

documentation causes delays and in-

creases cost. Finally, continued reliance

on paper documentation makes aircraft

transfer slower and more costly.

IATA is working with ICAO to promote

global acceptance of electronic records,

but “it is a slow process,” Markou ac-

knowledges. He says airlines and leasing

companies are eager to standardize and

digitize documents, and a few of these

are pioneering new methods.

Airframe OEMs are critical to stan-

dardized and digitized records, as they

create digital birth records of aircraft

and parts and strongly infl uence supply

chains. With OEM leadership, airlines,

lessors, MROs and suppliers could con-

tinue to expand digital record-keeping.

Markou urges supply-chain participants

to harmonize digital records to ensure

parts and aircraft can be transferred

seamlessly. “Records harmonization is a

focus area,” Markou stresses.

Agreeing on a common checklist of

requirements during redelivery would

dramatically simplify aircraft transfers.

Markou says agreement is most neces-

sary on back-to-birth traceability of

life-limited parts (LLP), repair documen-

tation, certifi cation and support docu-

mentation. “These are typical areas of

misunderstanding between airlines and

leasing companies,” he observes.

To meet these and other challenges,

IATA has formed the Aircraft Leasing

Advisory Group, a forum for discussion

and sharing best practices. IATA has

published its own “Guidance and Best

Practices for Aircraft Leases,” but even

common solutions must recognize that

each airline and lessor has its own busi-

ness model.

Others are more impatient. Non-

uniform, paper-based lease documents

cost the industry $1 billion annually, notes

Michael Denis, vice president of FlatIron

Solutions. He says technology is available

and ASD standards for XML documen-

tation will soon be available to support

standardized, digitized documents. “The

problem is will and regulation.”

The will to make the change is weak,

because no one party pays much of that

$1 billion—even a giant like American

Airlines, which will transfer 1,400 aircraft

in and out over the next decade. And there

are up-front costs to conversion.

Required data is similar under EASA,

THE CHALLENGE OF GLOBAL CHANGE

GE Capital Aviation Services’

portfolio includes 1,600 aircraft,

including the Boeing 777-300ER.

BOEING CONCEPT

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