Its purpose is to keep the aircraft in a state of airworthiness, to be safe for crew and passengers, as well as anyone in its service area.
Types of required maintenance vary by class and type of aircraft, but generally break down into line maintenance, heavy maintenance, and shop or component maintenance. Line maintenance covers pre-flight checks, daily check of fluids, scheduled minor repairs and modifications, and troubleshooting. Heavy maintenance is performed less often, but requires a much more thorough breakdown, repair, or replacement of aircraft components and requires a large, well-equipped facility. Shop maintenance focuses on repair or overhaul of specific parts and often require specialist services.
While safety and performance are the primary goals of aircraft maintenance, an effective maintenance program also maximizes the owner's resale value of the aircraft and prevents losses due to downtime. Choosing the right MRO partner assures proper and consistent implementation of the maintenance program, including timely access to hard-to-find parts, and it saves operational expenses through smarter asset allocation.
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