What you need to know about aircraft maintenance after the South Korea crash

The cause of last month’s deadly plane crash in South Korea has yet to be determined, but it’s shining a spotlight on a topic little understood by the general public: how planes are maintained.

Jeju Air, the airline that operated the flight that killed 179 people, said pre-flight checks did not raise any concerns and the Boeing 737-800, which is about 15 years old, had no history of accidents.

While there is no evidence that shoddy maintenance played a role in the crash, experts say the plane’s maintenance history, which includes work done by maintenance firms in other countries, will, as usual, be an important part of the crash investigation.

Here’s what you need to know about how aircraft are maintained.

Basics

Airline executives, pilots, mechanics, regulators and others play important and overlapping roles in taking care of commercial aircraft.

It’s a practice many front-line travelers will be familiar with, even if they don’t know what it’s called: line maintenance, which involves regular checks and repairs between flights. Before a jet takes off, pilots perform visual and other checks for damage or other problems. Airline mechanics also perform periodic inspections. Often times, a mechanic can fix the problem quickly, fix it, or fix it safely until the problem is fixed later. Serious problems may result in long delays or cancellations.

In addition, every part of the aircraft, down to the nuts and bolts, undergoes regular inspections, repairs or replacements. These inspections are usually scheduled based on the number of hours the aircraft is in use, the number of flights, the time, or some combination of these factors. These inspections are overseen by aviation authorities around the world, many following the lead of regulators at the Federal Aviation Administration or its European Union counterpart.

When it comes to more intensive maintenance, which can take an aircraft out of service for days or weeks, the world’s largest airlines do much of it themselves. Some, including Lufthansa and Delta Air Lines, even sell these services to others. But every airline outsources at least some work to companies that make parts and planes, such as Boeing and Airbus, or to third parties. Small carriers, in particular, depend on experience.

“If you look at the long tail of aircraft operators, most of them are very small, so it didn’t make sense for them to invest in equity,” said Jonathan Berger, co-founder of Alton Aviation, a consulting firm. “Outsourcing has been around since ancient times.”

The rise of outsourcing

Although it has always played a role in aviation, outsourcing has accelerated in recent decades. Between 1990 and 2011, the share of spending on airline maintenance in the United States more than doubled, from about 20 percent to more than 44 percent. According to a 2012 report by the Congressional Research Service. Airlines typically do not disclose such costs, and few outside the industry track or evaluate them.

Airlines worldwide still maintain almost all lines. But they often outsource more extensive work to companies that specialize in aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul. This work is usually divided into three categories, covering the fuselage – or fuselage, wings and tail – the engine and various other components.

Much of the cost of airframe maintenance comes from labor, so airlines from wealthy countries often outsource this work to low-wage countries. For example, some US airlines send them to El Salvador, while Western European carriers send them to Eastern Europe.

With engines, materials make up more of the maintenance costs, so outsourcing to low-income countries doesn’t save airlines much. Again, much of this work is often outsourced to engine manufacturers, Mr. Berger said, because repairing these large machines is expensive and complicated. Most jet engines for large commercial aircraft are made by a few US and European companies.

The global network of care providers is a growing market It is valued at more than 100 billion dollars. Proponents say it allows airlines, especially budget carriers, to plan costs and focus on what they do best: efficiently schedule, sell and operate flights. Airlines also benefit because they can call on specialists who can focus on certain types of maintenance or aircraft.

Is outsourcing safe?

Many aviation industry experts say outsourcing is safe and necessary, noting that the FAA still oversees the maintenance of U.S. aircraft everywhere. But some consumer groups and unions representing American mechanics have raised concerns.

“There’s a quality problem, and the industry’s denial that it’s just a lie,” said William J. McGee, who has worked as a passenger advocate before lawmakers and regulators for decades and is a progressive at the American Economic Freedom Project. group.

Inspector General of the Department of Transportation in the 2000s and early 2010s Reviewed FAA oversight of foreign and domestic repair stations and found wanting. Airline mechanics said they found obvious errors in planes returning from foreign repair shops. Their unions, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Transport Workers Union, have raised concerns that overseas workers are not held to the same strict standards as in the United States.

The FAA recently addressed some of these concerns. This month, a new agency rule will begin requiring foreign repair sites to conduct drug and alcohol tests of workers performing certain safety-sensitive maintenance services, affecting 977 locations in 65 countries.

“This rule will ensure that these workers are held to the same high level of safety standards regardless of where they are physically located,” said FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker. said in a statement last month.

Outsourcing advocates say today’s oversight by airlines and the FAA is strict, noting that despite a few shocking crashes and incidents, flying commercial aircraft is safer than other common modes of travel, including cars, buses or trains.

Care Needs Increase

Despite a significant slowdown at the start of the pandemic, air travel has bounced back faster than the industry expected. Airlines are now eager to expand and upgrade their fleets.

But Boeing and Airbus, the two major jet manufacturers, have struggled to land the planes. Boeing has had to slow production in recent years after two fatal crashes of its most popular plane, the 737 Max, first in 2018 and 2019. Last year, it was forced to do so again after a panel flew a Max jet in flight, essentially shutting down Max production during a seven-week vacation in the fall.

Airlines also had to take Airbus jets out of service for unannounced inspections of Pratt & Whitney engines after the engine manufacturer discovered a quality defect. Airbus and Boeing also struggled with lingering problems of the pandemic, including shortages of parts and skilled workers.

Slow deliveries of new planes have forced airlines to use older planes longer, which are safer but often require more maintenance. Newer engines equipped with new technology that makes them more efficient also require more tuning and maintenance than expected.

However, the number of people pursuing a career in aircraft maintenance lags behind the demand.

“It’s not just airlines that are hiring, general aviation is hiring, corporate aviation is hiring,” said Chuck Horning, professor of aviation maintenance at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, referring to the planes that many businesses use to transport people and goods. “And then you have industries that didn’t even exist when I graduated in 1986, like the space industry and unmanned aerial systems.”