Introduction
When people discuss the issue of aircraft maintenance, safety issue normally comes up at some point of the discussion. That can be attributed to how important safety in the aviation industry is. Almost all technical activities in the air transport sector are safety-focused. For that reason, aircraft maintenance and overhaul to aircraft engines must be done to meet and exceed the FAA quality and safety standards. FAA quality and safety standards demand that all legal requirements are met before a fight is allowed to take off. The guidelines also insist on ensuring that the aircraft is well fitted with operational equipage requirement as well as having the appropriate equipment for a particular type of flight. Much focus is given to safety and airworthiness of flight. That has led to many scholars focusing their research work on flight safety. Dekker (2012) states that the process of maintenance should be conducted as a just culture of balancing safety and accountability.
Line maintenance activities are usually done with the aim of keeping the aircraft in a good condition when it is still operational. A majority of maintenance workload can be scheduled to achieve operational flying schedules thus some checks and inspections are brought forward. However, there are scenarios when flight crew inspect flight and decide that the aircraft does not meet set quality and safety standards. In response, maintenance technicians are called into action to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. The primary concern is usually given to the costs that will be incurred by the flight company which as a result will cut down the profit margins of the company. Consequently, the need to reduce the maintenance time puts much pressure on the maintenance technicians who eagerly want to restore the normal operations.
Aircraft Line Maintenance
Unplanned maintenance is a multi-faceted activity which calls for a proper allocation of a workforce, adequate resources, and time. One of the pressures that is faced by the maintenance team at this point is achieving the balancing act with the resource allocation. In most cases, comparing the planned workload and the available resources shows a huge gap. This is because there may be few available personnel to undertake the maintenance project. In such scenarios, the fleet composition diversity is diminished. As a result, the extensive pool of broad-range skills, knowledge, and skills is reduced. The main tasks of the maintenance workload are then left for a few individuals who due to fatigue and other human factors may fail to deliver to their maximum.
Corallo et al. (2010) mention that several benefits can be achieved when a pool of competencies is used to carry out a particular activity. Deftness in competencies in the discharge of activity can yield disastrous results. However, the use of top quality skilled and knowledgeable personnel enhances the outcome of the process. Putting this argument into the context of the aviation industry, we note that unplanned maintenance work quality is a reduced when the number of skilled and experienced personnel is reduced as well. Demonstrably, the personnel who are left to handle the activity may then fail to deliver quality work. Maintaining a balanced resource allocation may become a daunting task to achieve. With reduced allocated resources, the quality of the outcome of the job may get tampered as a result of a combination of human factors and other environmental factors.
Key Human Factors
To attain efficient line maintenance processes, consideration must be given to human factors which come into play. Particular focus should be directed to including especially fatigue and stress. Fatigue usually set in when the body has been overworked and the body experiences overall tiredness. Physical fatigue is known to be a common cause of mental fatigue. Mental fatigue usually shows through tiredness and a general decrease of attention and ability to carry out complex or quite simple activities with the required efficiency. DeTienne (2012) established that stress remained as one of the significant predictors of which it consequently plays a role in workplace performance. For example, shift patterns of most aviation industries include running flying schedules 24 hours throughout the week. As a result, pressure is put on aircraft maintenance technicians (AMTs) who are always required to be available to check and ensure that the airplane is airworthy before takeoff.
Another key human factor that affects the aviation industry is the circadian cycle. Research done by scholars has indicated a human tendency to record lowered capacity in the early hours of the day. Most aviation industries run their operations 24/7. Regarding that, as Ancel and Shih (2012) highlight, aircraft maintenance technicians (AMTs) on duty in the early hours of the day are likely to be less effective in their duty.
Another issue that plays a significant role in the operation and effectiveness to carry out line maintenance is health problems. Health state of an individual determines their capacity to perform assigned duties. For this matter, it is imperative to ensure that aircraft maintenance technicians (AMTs) are in good health, otherwise, it could disrupt maintenance time plans, which can cause delays, thereby affect the schedules of the flights.
Pressure Affecting Line Maintenance Execution.
One thing to note is that when passengers are told of a mechanical problem, it does not always mean that the flight has mechanical problems. The modern aviation industry thoroughly observes flight schedules that any mishap in one flight can cause a ripple effect throughout other flight schedules. If a plane is cancelled or delayed owing to maintenance issues, passengers waiting to take the trip, and those planned to take off cannot have their flights in time. In the end, those passengers will have to be flown to another destination where they will also have to wait before their flights can resume. In consequence, it disrupts flights, thereby negatively affecting the schedule.
Airlines schedules can include both incoming and outgoing flights and the business of managing such tight fleets becomes a bigger issue when one flight is delayed or cancelled. Airline operators hope for a good day every day, and this might lead to the flogging of flights with little respite hoping that nothing awful happens to the laid down plans. Because of the stringent restrictions of running such tight fleets, the effect of having one flight breaking down can interrupt many other flights. Due to this, line maintenance personnel experience the extra pressure of having to reduce the maintenance time consequently reducing the ripple effect in the entire system. Line maintenance technicians not only have to deal with the pressure of returning the flight back to operation in time but also reduce delays in other flights from other destinations.
Line maintenance can cause a great deal of pressure to the personnel due to the time framework that flights operate in. Aircraft maintenance requires high accuracy, and for the case, it is important that all human factors to be favorable towards ensuring that maintenance work is done efficiently and in line with the set standards. Harris et al. (2007) assert that active failure is promoted by latent conditions present in an organization. Past scholarly research has put forward statistical data which link erroneous decision making by upper management to create psychological conditions for unsafe operations. Such fallible decision-making in most cases is attributed to the time pressure under which maintenance personnel is put.
The aviation industry is a business entity just like any other. However, it differs from the rest since a mishap in its operations can lead to tremendous loss of life and property. Aviation managers are often inclined to making a profit and cutting down operational costs. When unplanned maintenance work come up, the management team always tend to exert more pressure on the maintenance team with no regard to safety status as they attempt to reduce the loss associated with the mishap. The fallible decisions which they make usually precede unsafe acts which are the ultimate recipe for accidents.
Technological advancement is also taking effect in the aviation industry. So far there are strategies which have been adopted in some airline industry which are meant to reduce the time required to carry out an operation including maintenance operations. As a result, the adoption of such strategies often causes an increase in time pressure on aircraft maintenance technicians (AMTs). The intensifying pressure exerted on AMTs consequently leads to reduced effective time-performance. Reduced time performance can cause skilled-based errors, wrongful application of rules or violations of the very rules which are meant to guarantee safety and quality in the aviation industry.
There is also the issue of reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) which is a process that ensures that a system continues to carry out its operation as expected by the user. In general, this regime is used to establish safe minimum levels of maintenance. Successful implementation of this strategy always leads to increasing cost effectiveness of the operation. Zhang, Xu, and Jia (2011) state that reliability is a system time dependent and focused on improving product quality and improving the profit margins. This has led to the conception of the Reliability-centered Quality Management which is a common factor in the aviation industry.
Because of the constant need to achieve minimum levels of operation cost, AMTs may engage in extreme cost-cutting processes which could be detrimental to the status of the airplane. The result of RCM program is the constant focus on a program which consumes scarce economic resources. The process of directly addressing issues in this regime only focuses on preventable failures. Failures which result from unlikely events will usually receive no action considering that risk is not substantial. Because of the economic pressure, AMTs consider reducing the risk involved to tolerable levels. That procedure then stands to continuously be a source of risk to the airplane.
How Pressure Affects Line Maintenance.
Pressure for AMTs seems to come from several sources. Most notably, commercial pressure takes a huge toll on line maintenance since it calls for the reduction of workforce costs. Flight companies just like any other business entity seeking to reduce operational costs with the endeavor of improving their profit margin. Inadequate allocation of resources to maintenance work can result in sub-standardized work. When pressure is exerted in maintenance crew, there arises the tendency to overlook or forget some vital instructions or procedures in line maintenance. That alone can become a viable threat to the safety of the aircraft, employees, and the entire business.
As earlier stated, commercial airlines have optimized their flights by already planning their flight schedules. If one of its flight is delayed as a result of line maintenance, all operations of the airlines are affected. This means that there would be diverted, delayed or canceled flights to other destinations in the schedule. AMTs are the ones who bear most of this pressure. When this pressure is perceived to be uncontrollable, the AMTs begin to show a drastic decrease in their performance. Reduced performance eventually leads to diminished productivity. Eventually, this will translate to the line maintenance work that was being carried on consequently affecting the airworthiness of a plane.
LeBlanc (2009...
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