Abstract
Modern aircraft have thousands of parts, systems, and components that need to be recurrently inspected or replaced. To keep the fleet airworthy, maintenance planners have to schedule the maintenance checks for each aircraft and the associated tasks. In practice, these two complex problems are solved following the experience of planners, resulting in sub-efficient solutions. This paper presents the first decision support system (DSS) developed for optimizing both aircraft maintenance check schedule and task allocation. The DSS integrates aircraft maintenance check scheduling, task allocation to each maintenance check, and shift planning in the same framework. The practical relevance of the DSS is illustrated through three test cases. The results show that the DSS can be used not only to optimize maintenance plans but also to study future maintenance policies. The results reveal substantial improvements in all key performance indicators compared with the planning approach followed by a partner airline.
Highlights
Aircraft maintenance is a sequence of activities, including overhaul, repair, inspection, or modification of an aircraft or aircraft systems, components, and structures to ensure an aircraft retains an airworthy condition
This paper presents the first decision support system (DSS) devel oped for optimizing both aircraft maintenance check schedule and task allocation
The shift planning algorithm allocates the maintenance tasks to each shift, respecting the workforce available per shift and the sequence of opening access panel, inspection, maintenance, and closing access panel
Summary
Aircraft maintenance is a sequence of activities, including overhaul, repair, inspection, or modification of an aircraft or aircraft systems, components, and structures to ensure an aircraft retains an airworthy condition. Decision Support Systems 146 (2021) 113545 architecture is presented, aircraft maintenance check scheduling optimization, task allocation, and shift planning as well as their corresponding algorithms. The DSS integrates aircraft maintenance check scheduling, mainte nance task allocation, and work shift planning in the same frame work. These processes are solved using different tools, while in the literature, these are seen as three different problems handled separately. We demonstrate that the DSS can improve aircraft utilization and reduce maintenance costs, compared with the current practice of airlines It reduces the time needed for AMP from days or hours to 20–30 min. This section reviews the previous research on AMP from long-term planning (3–5 years) to short-term planning (several days to weeks)
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