The reason for the deadly aircraft crash in South Korea final month continues to be to be decided, nevertheless it thrust into the highlight a topic little understood by most people: how airplanes are maintained.
Jeju Air, the airline that operated the flight during which 179 individuals died, stated that checks earlier than the flight had raised no considerations and that the jet, a Boeing 737-800 that was about 15 years outdated, had no historical past of accidents.
Whereas there isn’t any proof that poor repairs performed a job within the crash, specialists say that the aircraft’s restore historical past, which incorporates work carried out by upkeep corporations in different international locations, shall be an necessary a part of the crash investigation, as is often the case.
Right here’s what it’s best to learn about how airplanes are maintained.
The Fundamentals
Airline executives, pilots, mechanics, regulators and others play important, and overlapping, roles in taking good care of industrial jets.
On the entrance line is a apply that shall be acquainted to many vacationers even when they don’t know what it’s referred to as: line upkeep, which includes common inspections and repairs between flights. Earlier than a jet takes off, pilots carry out visible and different inspections for injury or different issues. Airline mechanics additionally conduct periodic checks. Usually, a mechanic can troubleshoot an issue shortly, fixing it or safely patching it up till the problem will be addressed later. Severe issues can lead to a protracted delay or cancellation.
As well as, each a part of a aircraft, all the way down to the nuts and bolts, is subjected to routine inspections, restore or alternative. These checks are sometimes scheduled based mostly on what number of hours the aircraft has been used, the variety of flights, time or some mixture of these components. These inspections are overseen by aviation authorities all over the world, with many following the lead of regulators on the Federal Aviation Administration or its European Union counterpart.
On the subject of extra intensive upkeep which may take a aircraft out of service for days or even weeks, the world’s largest airways carry out a lot of that work on their very own. Some, together with Lufthansa and Delta Air Strains, even promote these companies to others. However each airline outsources at the least some work to the businesses that make elements and planes, like Boeing and Airbus, or to 3rd events. Small carriers, particularly, depend upon the apply.
“If you happen to take a look at the lengthy tail of plane operators, the bulk are very small, so it by no means made sense for them to speculate the capital,” stated Jonathan Berger, a founding companion of Alton Aviation, a consulting agency. “Outsourcing has been happening for the reason that daybreak of time.”
The Rise of Outsourcing
Whereas it has at all times performed a job in aviation, outsourcing accelerated in current a long time. In america, the share of spending on airline upkeep that was outsourced greater than doubled from 1990 to 2011, rising from about 20 p.c to greater than 44 p.c, according to a 2012 Congressional Research Service report. Airways don’t sometimes disclose such spending and few outdoors the trade observe or estimate it.
Worldwide, airways nonetheless conduct nearly all of their very own line upkeep. However they typically ship out extra complete work to firms focusing on upkeep, restore and overhaul of planes. That work is normally divided into three classes, masking the airframe — or physique, wings and tail of a aircraft — the engine and numerous different parts.
Labor accounts for many of the price of airframe upkeep, so airways in wealthier international locations typically ship that work to international locations the place wages are decrease. Some U.S. airways ship planes to El Salvador, for instance, and Western European carriers ship them to Jap Europe.
With engines, supplies make up extra of the price of repairs, so outsourcing to lower-income international locations doesn’t save airways as a lot. Nonetheless, the a lot of that work can also be outsourced, typically to engine producers, as a result of fixing these giant machines is dear and complicated, in accordance with Mr. Berger. Most jet engines for giant industrial planes are made by a number of U.S. and European firms.
The worldwide community of upkeep suppliers is a rising market valued at more than $100 billion. Proponents say that it permits airways, notably price range carriers, to plan prices and deal with what they do finest: plan, promote and function flights effectively. Airways additionally profit as a result of they’ll flip to specialists who could deal with sure sorts of upkeep or plane.
Is Outsourcing Protected?
Many aviation trade specialists say that outsourcing is secure and vital and notice that the F.A.A. nonetheless oversees upkeep of U.S. planes wherever it happens. However some shopper teams and labor unions representing American mechanics have raised considerations about it.
“There’s a high quality situation and for the trade to disclaim that’s simply false,” stated William J. McGee, who has spent a long time as a passenger advocate earlier than lawmakers and regulators and is a senior fellow on the American Financial Liberties Challenge, a progressive group.
Within the 2000s and early 2010s, the Transportation Division’s inspector basic looked into the F.A.A.’s oversight of foreign and domestic repair stations and located it missing. Airline mechanics have reported discovering apparent errors in planes coming back from international restore outlets. And their unions, together with the Worldwide Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Transport Employees Union, have raised considerations that employees overseas will not be topic to the identical rigorous requirements as these in america.
The F.A.A. lately addressed a few of these considerations. This month, a brand new company rule will begin requiring international restore websites to hold out drug and alcohol exams of workers who carry out sure safety-sensitive upkeep, affecting as many as 977 areas in 65 international locations.
“This rule will guarantee these workers are held to the equal excessive stage of security requirements, no matter the place they’re bodily situated,” Mike Whitaker, the outgoing F.A.A. administrator, said in a statement last month.
Defenders of outsourcing say that oversight by airways and the F.A.A. as we speak is rigorous, noting that regardless of just a few surprising crashes and incidents, flying on industrial planes is much safer than different frequent modes of journey, together with automobiles, buses or trains.
Upkeep Wants Are Rising
Regardless of a considerable slowdown early within the pandemic, air journey got here roaring again rather more shortly than the trade had anticipated. Airways at the moment are wanting to broaden and improve their fleets.
However Boeing and Airbus, the 2 massive jet producers, have struggled to churn out planes. Boeing has needed to sluggish manufacturing in recent times, first after two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019 of its hottest aircraft, the 737 Max. Final yr, it was compelled to try this once more after a panel blew off a Max jet in flight, and within the fall it largely stopped manufacturing of the Max throughout a seven-week strike.
Airways have additionally needed to pull Airbus jets from service to hold out surprising inspections of Pratt & Whitney engines after the engine producer found a top quality defect. Airbus and Boeing have additionally struggled with lingering pandemic-era issues, together with shortages of elements and expert employees.
The sluggish supply of latest planes has compelled airways to make use of older planes longer, which is secure however typically requires extra upkeep. Newer engines, that are full of new expertise that makes them extra environment friendly, have additionally required extra fixes and maintenance than anticipated.
However the variety of individuals pursuing careers in airplane upkeep has lagged behind demand.
“Not solely are the airways hiring, however basic aviation is hiring, company aviation is hiring,” Chuck Horning, a professor of aviation upkeep at Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical College, stated referring to planes utilized by many companies to move individuals and items. “And then you definately’ve acquired industries that didn’t even actually exist after I graduated in 1986, just like the house trade and unmanned aerial techniques.”
