ECONOMICS OF JET ENGINE MAINTENANCE

The economic aspects of jet engine maintenance comprise not only the direct costs of labour and parts to keep the engines flying but also the associated costs of fuel used, spares inventories and facilities required, and costs of service disruptions due to unplanned engine removals. Rapidly escalating fuel prices, higher labour rates and fierce competition, as well as the advent of the more maintenance sensitive high by-pass ratio engines, have focussed attention on engine costs. It is noted that maintenance cost is made up of 2 major elements: the cost per repair and the frequency or mean time between rapair, and that there is a relationship between these elements. JT8D engine maintenance data is used to illustrate the point. The JT9D high bypass ratio engine with its modular construction promoted the "on condition" maintenance criteria where the structural soundness of the engine was monitored. The modular concept which allows removal of a specific module without disassembling the remaining modules improved productivity. The optimised engine maintenance programme integrates the benefits from both "on condition" maintenance and fixed time maintenance. The optimised programme focuses on component refurbishment dictated by engine and module performance in conjunction with visual examination. Cold section maintenance and hot section maintenance are also discussed. Teams or groups have also been established to expand customer contact: customer support group, line maintenance review team, maintenance review team, and the maintenance cost analysis group.

• Corporate Authors:

  Aeronautical Publications of India Private Limited

  Santacruz Airport
  Bombay 400 029,   India 
• Authors:
  • McRae, G M
• Publication Date: 1979-5

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 27-30
• Serial:
  • Skyways
  • Volume: 33
  • Issue Number: 5
  • Publisher: Aeronautical Publications of India Private Limited

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Economic factors; Failure analysis; Maintenance; Maintenance management; Turbofan engines
• Uncontrolled Terms: Maintenance costs
• Old TRIS Terms: Mean time between failures; Overhauling; Pratt and whitney jt9d engine
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Economics; Maintenance and Preservation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00196507
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 28 1979 12:00AM