Abstract
Aircraft dispatch involves determining the optimal dispatch option when an aircraft experiences an unexpected failure. Currently, maintenance technicians at the apron have limited access to support information and finding the right information in extensive maintenance manuals is a time-consuming task, often leading to technically induced delays. This paper introduces a novel web-based prototype decision support system to aid technicians during aircraft dispatch decision-making and subsequent maintenance execution. A system architecture for real-time dispatch decision support is established and implemented. The developed system is evaluated through a case study in an operational environment by licensed maintenance technicians. The system fully automates information retrieval from multiple data sources, performs alternative identification and evaluation for a given fault message, and provides the technician with on-site access to relevant information, including the related maintenance tasks. The case study indicates a potential time saving of up to 98% per dispatch decision. Moreover, it enables digitalization of the—currently mostly paper-based—dispatch decision process, thereby reducing logistics and paper waste. The prototype is the first to provide operational decision support in the aircraft maintenance domain and addresses the lack of correlation between theory and practice often found in decision support systems research by providing a representative case study. The developed custom parser for SGML-based documents enables efficient identification and extraction of relevant information, vastly contributing to the overall reduction of the decision time.
Highlights
Maintenance is an essential element for ensuring the continuing airworthiness of aircraft and, by extension, the primary consideration in aviation: safety
The fault message “WING ANTI ICE R VALVE OPEN” on an Airbus A321-211 was determined to be a suitable use case. This is a warning message that is displayed on the on-board electronic centralized aircraft monitor (ECAM) and indicates that there is an issue with the right-hand wing anti-ice valve (WAIV), which is part of the ice protection system that prevents the accumulation of ice on the leading edge of the wing
The prototype allows technicians to make better-informed decisions. Another major time-saving aspect is that with all the information available at the aircraft, technicians no longer need to drive back and forth to acquire information, saving valuable time in the turnaround. This can lead to more feasible dispatch options that will not result in a delay, because the time previously spent on logistics can be used to perform actual maintenance
Summary
Maintenance is an essential element for ensuring the continuing airworthiness of aircraft and, by extension, the primary consideration in aviation: safety. A shift towards data-driven maintenance approaches can be observed, where, instead of a predefined interval, the current health or expected failure of the part or system is the determining factor [5,6,7] These approaches aim to minimize the remaining useful life (RUL) of parts and systems before performing maintenance, to reduce maintenance costs and AOG time. The aforementioned maintenance strategies aim to prevent unexpected failures and their associated costs Despite these efforts, unscheduled maintenance as a result of unexpected failures remains a relevant factor in airline operations: it is estimated that 5.8% of all flights in Europe experience delays due to unexpected aircraft technical failures, resulting in EUR 2.8 billion additional costs every year [8]. The cost of delay is modelled in several publications, which all found similar trends in delay cost factors (e.g., maintenance costs, flight and cabin crew salaries and expenses, airport charges, and passenger compensations) for both the EU and US markets [9,10,11,12,13,14]
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