A study on the optimization of aviation maintenance operations

Abstract

Aviation maintenance operations are very critical and have direct impact on aviation safety. However, they can have highly risky settings for execution, related to both human nature and the surrounding environment. Therefore, these operations need to be optimized, this being this study’s purpose. This study focuses mainly on human factors, since it is proven, as shown explicitly in the literature review, that stress, distraction, lack or poor communication, complacency and lack of knowledge are mostly cited when talking about aviation maintenance practices. In addition, the literature review also shows that optimizing these practices will not only reduce human error and improve safety, but airline will also benefit financially. In this study, an aircraft maintenance survey was developed and carried out for people working in Maintenance and Repair Organization (MRO) in Lebanon with a 66.67% response rate. Beside showing a culture that lacks the importance of safety, occurrences were reported, resulting in distraction, lack of resources and norms to be the most reported, in addition to norms, distraction, lack of assertiveness and complacency also being frequently reported regarding shortcuts and mistakes. Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), the three above-mentioned findings resulted in norms (18%), distraction (14%), complacency (10%) and lack of assertiveness (10%) to be the most frequently cited and reported human factors on which the focus was in developing the proposed plan, which aims to optimize aviation maintenance operations.