Staying on Top of Your Aircraft Maintenance

Avoid unnecessary urgency by understanding the basics of a maintenance schedule

If you’re an aircraft owner or operator, you are likely familiar with some aspects of aircraft maintenance. Before you finalized the purchase of your aircraft, at the very least, you arranged for an inspection and a thorough review of the craft’s maintenance history.

Hopefully, you entered the venture of aircraft ownership with your eyes open to what maintenance tasks and programs are required and their associated costs. However, some buyers jump in without a game plan to stay on top of maintenance.

We wanted to lay out the framework to mitigate this pitfall. Here’s what you need to know about aircraft maintenance and the planning that keeps your aircraft operating safely.

Pre-Purchase Inspection

There is no better insurance than a Pre-Purchase Inspection (PPI) by a qualified and experienced maintenance provider. PPIs not only include looking at the current physical condition of the aircraft but also reviewing its history and analyzing its upcoming maintenance needs. This will help you budget and plan for these events and hopefully minimize costly surprises.

Choosing Your Maintenance Provider

Who you choose to maintain your aircraft is a critical first step in ensuring the long-term viability of your new asset. A common mistake is limiting your search to the local area where you keep your aircraft.

Some of the best maintenance providers conduct their business within a 500-mile radius of where your aircraft is based. Flying to another location for maintenance services is often well worth the price you’ll pay in fuel to get there. Receiving quality and warrantied care will pay dividends in reduced downtime over the long run.

The type of aircraft you operate will help narrow your choice of maintenance provider. Most reputable repair stations specialize in certain aircraft types and have good relationships with their respective manufacturers for optimized support. You can find maintenance providers worldwide by contacting a manufacturer representative of your aircraft type.

Inspection Programs

There are minimum legal requirements for aircraft maintenance inspections that help to prevent wear and tear from adding up as your aircraft accumulates flight hours. Complying with these inspections is mandatory under federal law, and it’s how we mitigate potential mechanical problems that compromise aviation safety.

There are also manufacturer-recommended maintenance tracking and inspection programs that offer a unified solution for your maintenance planning requirements. Many companies offer tailored programs unique to each aircraft ownership situation. We recommend tracking programs to let owners schedule tasks well in advance rather than paying top dollar for last-minute inspections.

By using a tracking program, not only are you able to plan for routine events, but you are also plugged into a network that will help resolve a mechanical breakdown should one occur. Reducing AOG (aircraft on ground) time is a critical money saver, especially for those who charter their aircraft to offset ownership costs. Scrambling to find last-minute maintenance leads to longer delays and lengthy lead times when parts need to be replaced.

Wearable Components

The last consideration worth taking into account is the components of your aircraft that will require the most maintenance attention outside of the regular inspection intervals we already discussed. These include brakes, tires, lighting, and hydraulic actuators.

Maintenance departments will regularly source these items to provide clients with expedited replacement of the most wearable items. When these components are in ready supply, some owners choose to stock up on them, which saves time and money in the long term. Recently, there have been shortages of aircraft tires, brakes, and windscreens, which has led to some owners experiencing extended AOG time.