Opinion: Keeping Pace With New Aircraft Technologies

The air transportation industry does not make revenue when an aircraft is not flying. Maintenance is a cost to a business constantly under scrutiny for savings and efficiencies. Planning tools for base maintenance, heavy checks or urgent safety directives that take an asset out of commission for blocks of time are being adjusted to accommodate new technologies that provide increased accuracy, efficiencies and savings.

The ability to schedule work depends on the time and material it will take to accomplish the tasks. With disruptions in supply chains and declining workforce numbers, planning accuracy becomes increasingly important. There may be barely enough materials and labor to complete a task once—leaving no room for errors or reworks.

Adding to the complications is the availability of hangar space and expertise in the wide range of makes, models and unique configurations being scheduled in facilities all over the world.

The ability to ensure that an asset continues to make money is enhanced by such technological advances as artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, advanced materials, 3D printing, digitalization, automation, structural integrity and better diagnostics, which help stabilize the needs of individual aircraft and fleets.

However, while technology moves at an amazing rate, it takes much longer to bring a new make or model to market. Additionally, the average age of the global commercial fleet is 13-15 years old. That means, in the simplest terms, the technology introduced in a new make and model of aircraft will be outdated by the time the first airworthiness certificate is issued.

For those hoping to take advantage of predictive maintenance, advanced analytics, artificial intelligence and the like to improve older fleets continuously, it will be important that regulators do not cause undue delays or consternation.

Engineers and technicians need the right data, and that will only come when humans and new technology can interact through knowledge, not suspicion. Safety management principles provide proper control over technological and human resource changes, which in turn will provide the ability to apply accurate, reliable, predictive measures to base, heavy or unscheduled maintenance events.

Sarah MacLeod is a managing member of Obadal, Filler, MacLeod & Klein and a founder and executive director of the Aeronautical Repair Station Association. She has advocated for individuals and companies on international aviation safety law, policy and compliance issues since the 1980s.

The views expressed are not necessarily those of Aviation Week.