The support programme devised for the Airbus A380 will have suppliers "put into the loop" with the Airbus "AOG [aircraft on ground] centre" that processes fault data, says Airbus customer services division deputy vice-president engineering and technical support Gèrard Misrai. "A virtual warehouse will have real-time knowledge of the spares situation at any station."
The system will integrate the Airbus maintenance software tool Airman - which will be able to interrogate the aircraft's minimum equipment list (MEL). Therefore if a fault occurs en route, the system will specify if the failure is a go or no-go item for the return flight, and the link to the virtual warehouse will enable it to identify if a replacement component is available at the destination airport.
Airbus plans to set up a team of staff at its support headquarters to give it technical, operational and material expertise. The team will be linked to each airline's central maintenance control and operations control centres, in real time, with the ability to hold video conferences. "We will all be able to discuss what to do about a fault, before the aircraft has landed," says Misrai.
It is also planned to co-locate Airbus and supplier specialists at each A380 operator's main base, and its main outstations, to minimise AOG disruptions.
"Airbus will make extensive use of portals to exchange engineering data from the suppliers and the operators. We will also co-locate engineers from the airline, the suppliers and the Airbus design office at our support centre to enable quick fixes to be defined for in-service issues," says Misrai.
Source: Flight International
