Aircraft Leasing & Transitions – Risk, Airline Operations Concerns and Repossession Deliverables.
Most Aircraft Lessors will have a Risk Department as part of the “deal team” that perform due diligence on the airline before the aircraft goes on lease.
The Technical team will have responsibility for performing the Mid-Lease Inspections during the lease period and remember that the MRF department will be monitoring utilisations (hours/cycles) submitted by the airline each month.
Aircraft Lease Review – Aircraft Certificates –
Very often the early part of a technical records review will focus on the high-cost items of Engines and Landing Gear followed by AD reviews, Last Done Next Due, Components, Structures, Mods and STC’s reviews but it is important to check and verify the Aircraft Certificates.
CAMO – Aircraft Reliability Outcome / Reports & Meeting
An aircraft reliability programme will result in publication of a report. The report will demonstrate the tracking metrics such as defect rate per ATA or per Aircraft Type for example. The reliability report will be considered at a reliability meeting, which would cover many varied factors such as:
Repetitive defects.
Unscheduled component removals.
Deferred defects that require additional input from engineering or functions.
Any other maintenance issues noted or apparent.
CAMO – Aircraft Reliability – The value of information.
We have looked previously at some of the considerations with regards to items you may and may not want to include in your reliability programme; of course, the purpose of all the data we gather is to create information we can use to improve reliability of the aircraft.
The reliability programme can be used to monitor the effectiveness of the maintenance plan for the aircraft but can also help us in identifying trends that might come to light.
Aircraft Leasing & Maintenance Reserves
Maintenance Reserves are monthly payments made by the airline to the lessor. The payments are often referred to as “Supplemental Rent” and belong to the lessor.
The accumulation of the funds is used to cover the costs of scheduled major maintenance events on Airframe, Landing Gear, Engines and APU.