AIN’s 2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit (CALS) East brought together a selection of business aviation thought leaders to examine and discuss some of our industry’s pressing issues. The session’s topics included Maintenance, Safety, Managing Generational Differences, Insurance, Metrics, Legal, Sustainability, Mental Performance (health), and Retention.

While our post-pandemic business climate has been a boon for all of aviation, the rapid escalation of flight hours is straining operators’ ability to maintain their aircraft to ensure maximum safety and dispatchability.

The CALS East attendees identified four maintenance-related problem areas challenging operators: lagging parts availability, lack of rental engines and major components, the necessity to cut dispatch rates, and the scarcity of experienced maintainers.

Solving the missing parts puzzle. 

Not long ago, the problem with spare parts was the rapidly escalating prices. Today, the prices are still going up, but that’s compounded by the quantity and quality of spares going down.

“Because of what happened in 2020, we don’t have the parts on our shelves. New parts aren’t available, so we have to use overhauled components,” a Part 91 operator says. “The supplier sends the part to be overhauled, and it may take 30 to 50 days. We hear all sorts of stories for the reason.”

“We have had some challenges with legacy avionics regarding getting some components and some of the repairs,” a charter/management operator says. “We recently replaced an audio panel because it was dim. Turns out the backlighting on the ‘new’ unit was even worse. The tag said it was ‘inspected,’ but what was it sent in for?”

“A big part of my job today is networking with other flight departments to see how we can help each other out,” a DOM for a Part 91 operator says. “We needed a hydraulic actuator and couldn’t find one. We finally found one on a jet that would wait six months for an engine.”

“We took it, and everything’s good now,” he continues. “Unfortunately, when we’re at a point where this is an issue with a 15-year-old airplane, it’s a problem.”

Playing the engine overhaul waiting game.

If you’re feeling sorry for the operator waiting six months for an engine, don’t. According to the CALS East attendees, they’re actually sitting pretty.

As a Part 91 DOM says, “I’ve spent my entire career overhauling engines, and it’s always been two to three months at most. Our last one was eight months.”

Even hot-section inspections are taking longer than in the past. “We’re getting to the 3,000-hour HSI timeframe, and we’re hearing from our operator friends to delay it,” a corporate DOM explains. “They’re saying it’s not four, six, or eight weeks; it may not even be four months. They’re saying when the OEM disassembles the engine, they don’t have the parts to finish it.”

Another operator adds, “With the shortages on the engine side, Pratt is coming out with a special inspection program. Don’t look at ABC, just DEF. It won’t affect airworthiness. We’re looking to adopt the same process. Also, finding rental engines is a huge issue today.”

The reasons for the engine issues run the gamut from a lack of raw materials to manufacturing/quality issues to OEMs not having the skilled technicians to make the parts. But no matter the reason, the results are excruciatingly long lead times that are pushing some operators to do the “unthinkable”—reduce use.

Missing parts and canceling flights.

Yes, it’s getting that bad. As a Part 91 DOM shares, “People depend on these business machines for their travel needs, and it’s our job to keep these damn things dispatchable. It’s the most frustrating thing I’ve had to go through.”

“The hardest part of my job is keeping that 100% dispatchability today,” a flight department manager says. “Our principle is the most important part of all of this. I notice he’s not as open and willing to allow junior executives to use the jet today.”

“The principal said he doesn’t want to take the risk of something breaking, and we can get the part before we start on a 10-day tour,” he continues. “It’s an awful way to have to manage aircraft utilization. We’re losing freedom because of all this.”

Of course, many of these instances are model-specific, and issues with parts availability are also more prevalent with legacy aircraft than with newer models. But still, anyone involved with keeping ‘em flying needs to stay well ahead of possible parts procurement problems facing their particular aircraft.

The most important “missing piece.”

Of course, having a hangar full of spare parts won’t do you a bit of good if you don’t have the trained technicians to put them in the airplane. And, as we all well know, recruiting and retaining skilled maintainers is a more significant issue than finding spare parts.

“I talked to the OEM that makes our windscreens, and they say they can’t support the fleet right now,” a Part 135 DOM says. “Making windscreens is an art form, and the ‘gray hairs’ that were making them have all retired. These people have been doing it for generations, and they’re not passing the skills along.”

“I’ve been in aviation for 30 years and we have a generation not playing with hardware as they grow up,” a charter/management operator adds. “There is much less mechanical mentality coming in the field and they don’t have the drive to get it done. General differences are a huge factor.”

And what technical talent we have is getting “poached” by the airlines. “They are so integrated in the schools that students don’t know general or business aviation. When they get out of school, they have interviews with the airlines right away,” they continued. “I don’t think there’s enough business aviation presence in the schools.”

“We’ve had a lot of success with our pilot internship program with a local flight school,” a Part 91 DOM shares. “There’s a new one starting at another school, and we’re going to try to develop internships with them for mechanics.”

“Our mechanics are all in their 50s,” a charter/management manager says. “Our head mechanic is trying to push to recruit and train younger mechanics in how we do things.”

Of course, the OEMs are feeling the strain also. As one attendee shares, “I was at an OEM committee meeting earlier this year, and what they said was that COVID forced a lot of experienced mechanics into ‘retirement.’ Now, nobody wants to come back to work for them. It cost them a huge percentage of their knowledge.”