Quantifying the Environmental Impact of Aircraft Maintenance Using Parametric Life Cycle Simulation

Abstract

Air transport is expected to grow at a faster pace than technological improvements, with emissions likely to double by 2050, rendering comprehensive environmental assessment essential. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a method to assess the environmental impact of an aircraft over its lifetime and identify opportunities to reduce environmental burdens. However, one often overlooked life cycle phase is aircraft maintenance, despite its crucial role in ensuring airworthiness and mitigating operational degradation. At the same time, maintenance can also contribute to negative impacts, such as ecotoxicity from hazardous substances. This study combines Life Cycle Simulation (LCS) with parametric LCA to streamline the assessment of aircraft shop maintenance. It develops simplified yet representative models for key impact categories, expressed as equations based on major contributing parameters such as equipment use, shop operations, and spare parts replacement. By integrating parametric LCA and LCS, the approach generates algebraic equations to efficiently estimate environmental impacts while maintaining representativeness. The approach reduces data requirements and supports Life Cycle Inventory enrichment, facilitating wider application of LCA in maintenance contexts.