Evaluating emerging aircraft technologies towards their impact on scheduled maintenance

Abstract

The aviation sector needs to adapt radically within the next years in a pursuit for more sustainable operations while maintaining its level of safety and staying economically competitive to other transport means. As a consequence, various technologies for an improved aircraft design are being developed and promise to improve airline operations. While the impact of these technologies on aspects such as fuel consumption or the temporal development of the technology readiness level have been thoroughly studied already, their implications towards scheduled maintenance need further effort and analysis. However, as the definition of a suitable Maintenance Program (MP) is an essential requirement during an aircraft’s certification process and can significantly influence subsequent operating costs, it is essential to evaluate the technologies’ implications towards their conformity with current scheduled maintenance standards. Therefore, this work will assess prospective aircraft technologies in terms of (a) compliance with state-of-the-art standards for MP development, (b) challenges for maintenance task execution and (c) maintenance costs. These dimensions will subsequently be evaluated with three categories, ranging from a negligible effect on current maintenance practices up to potential showstoppers that require substantial regulatory adjustments. With this work, we can identify current gaps in existing maintenance regulation that need addressing to enable a swift and seamless introduction of the examined technologies. Additionally, this work enables the industry to consider the maintenance aspects early in the design phase of new aircraft technologies.