Under pressure: Finding the sweet spot of successful global fleet utilisation

When airlines keep abreast of the new tech and regulations likely to alter their playing field, they give themselves breathing space to strategise effectively in an uncertain future.

Pressure and demand are growing in the commercial aviation industry. 

As airlines enhance their global fleet utilisation to cater to increasing passenger numbers, they are ramping up the pressure on the performance of their aircraft, crews and MRO operatives – and even the passenger experience.

So why are some airlines able to increase their global fleet utilisation and remain efficient, while others are perpetually challenged? What is the sweet spot of maximising usage without compromising performance?

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Key personnel tired, key processes rushed, key mistakes made

A relaxed schedule is a flexible one. It acts as a buffer against the unexpected: from bad weather to tech failures.

But airlines need the extra capacity of adding two more daily flights to their route, which they can accomplish by reducing turnaround times.

More daily flights result in more wear and tear but less time to maintain. Potentially, such a schedule could even reduce the life-cycle of the aircraft.

Everyone is working under pressure, so they are more likely to feel fatigued – the crew, the cleaners, the MRO operatives, the refuellers – and important tasks can potentially be rushed, even to the extent that passengers notice.

Placing too much pressure on the aircraft will increase the demand for MRO, which can cause delays if there is not sufficient cover, as can increasing pressure on other turnaround processes such as cleaning and refuelling.

Costing around $10,000 to $20,000 an hour, and sometimes even higher, Aircraft on Ground (AOG) situations are very expensive – quickly eroding the profits of countless flights that leave on time, which is the direct opposite effect of why airlines are increasing their fleet utilisation.

Adopting new tech, airport collaboration, leveraging data

Successful global fleet utilisation is normally the result of the smart coordination of strategic operational enhancements.

Smart scheduling and route optimisation enable the airlines to find every available minute to give their cabin and MRO crews extra flexibility regarding the way they carry out their work.

Any technology that helps the airline to stay ahead of potential problems, such as predictive maintenance, will also help, as will updating their fleet, so the airline can make the most of recent technological advances.

This will enable them to fully collaborate with airports, which are increasingly embracing tech to take full control of all their processes where they can. 

An airline that has integrated its digital overview with the airport and shared its data is giving itself the very best chance of achieving total efficiency.

Data is key to making real-time informed decisions that can optimise the route – wind direction and temperatures, for example – and coordinate stakeholders for maximum efficiency.

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Easy availability and quality of spare parts is critical

Crucial to keeping flight arrival and departure times on schedule and achieving overall fleet efficiency is the way the airline’s MRO division maintains the airline’s used/refurbished and spare parts inventory, utilising predictive maintenance to replace parts before they fail.

Availability is critical – if the spare part is located in a storage facility at the other end of the airport, it will cause a delay; if the spare part isn’t on site, it will cause an AOG.

The technician needs to source the spare part quickly, so the inventory must be well maintained, the storage facilities strategically located, and the supply chain quick to replenish the parts without excessive stockpiling.

Building strong relationships with the supply chain is important, as are integrated supply chain technologies to enhance responsiveness and reliability. ​

Quality is also critical. Using certified parts, preferably sourced from the OEM, should ensure the aircraft is running optimally. 

Not only does using certified parts ensure compliance with safety standards, but also OEM warranty. 

For example, a non-critical, uncertified part could potentially cause damage to a critical part that costs 100 times more to replace, and there is a good chance the warranty will be invalidated by the use of an uncertified part.

All eyes on global and local conditions – and the future

Global fleet utilisation is hard to achieve, but sustaining it is almost mission impossible.

So many global conditions can affect whether your flights depart and arrive on time: from unexpected weather and atmospheric conditions to epidemics, regional regulations and no-fly zones caused by conflicts – to name just a handful.

And then there are local conditions to consider, which can be even more disruptive. Bad weather conditions at the airport could adversely affect all flights, as could strike action or the isolated actions of passengers. 

To stay ahead of the turbulence, airlines need to see into the immediate future, the near future and even further afield.

For the immediate future, predictive maintenance should enable parts to be replaced before they fail, and real-time monitoring systems can preempt issues and optimise operations.

In the near future, airlines need to keep abreast of evolving aviation regulations, as well as local and global governance, so they are not caught by surprise and are in a good position to quickly become compliant.

And then, even further afield, airlines need to strategise about how they are going to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Aircraft won’t just need to be fuel efficient, they’ll need to be clean, using hydrogen or Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to power hydrogen-electric engines – or a combination of them all.

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SATAIR TAKEAWAY

Achieving perfect fleet utilisation is extremely challenging under many variables.

There are so many extenuating circumstances that can affect whether a flight is delayed or otherwise compromised. But airlines can give themselves the best possible chance of success by smartly strategising, from ensuring the spare parts inventory is well maintained to always staying abreast of developments in the industry – from new tech to likely regulatory changes.

Every time the airline is ahead of the curve, it buys itself time, and that is crucial to easing the pressure valve of their entire operation.