Lufthansa has consistently experienced 100% technical dispatch reliability on its Airbus A380s, but Air France is frequently dropping below its 98.5% target.
Speaking at Aviation Week's MRO Europe conference in London today, Air France Industries vice-president line maintenance and airframe engineering Herve Page said the carrier is "more or less" at its targeted 98.5% technical dispatch reliability, "sometimes above, but more often below".
However, he adds that technical issues are being resolved and he is confident Air France will reach its 98.5% target "rapidly".
Lufthansa Technik director of new aircraft readiness line maintenance, Dean Raineri, says that on Lufthansa's A380s technical dispatch reliability within 15 minutes has not dropped below 100%.
"So far we've been fortunate, we've only had two delays but they were within 15 minutes," says Raineri. He adds that the 100% reliability record is due largely to the fact that Lufthansa's A380s are 'Wave 2' models, which have a "higher modification level" than earlier models.
"It's worthwhile not being the launch customer," says Raineri, adding that Lufthansa's dispatch reliability on its A380s is also the result of the carrier's "preventive maintenance" strategy. "We don't wait until failure occurs."
Lufthansa's A380s have clocked up 2,200 flight hours, or 600 flight cycles, since they were delivered to the carrier in May. Air France's A380s have operated 8,913 flight hours and 1,606 flight cycles.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
