During operation of an aircraft there are times when the short-term maintenance changes due to factors such as damage for example. If we think about an aircraft fuselage getting damaged in a turnaround at an airport, the aircraft might be allowed to continue in service for a number of cycles before the repair has to be completed; while this allows operation to continue, this is a maintenance action which we would not accept at a lease transition.
During an aircraft transition a delay is always going to have a negative impact for one party be it the lessor or lessee depending on which transition is occurring (Delivery & Re-Delivery).
With lease costs and delay clauses, the financial exposure can fast become large; it is an important consideration when considering factors such as the physical observations or findings from the review.
PBN or Performance Based Navigation defines the navigation system performance requirements.
Common requirements are intended to ensure that there is worldwide commonality.
Area Navigation known as RNAV is a system which allows an aircraft to navigate in a way other than an airway; instead, we can fly a flight path. RNAV will use systems such as GPS, DME or inertial navigation systems as examples.
During a review of an aircraft lease return it is important to consider the structural repairs. A part of this review will consider the category of a repair and possible impact on the AMP (Approved Maintenance Programme); we can see repair categories below for an example:
Category A
Permanent Repair. The re inspection for this repair is covered in line with the inspection intervals as per the AMP (Approved Maintenance Programme) and need no reduced inspection intervals.
Category B
Permanent Repair. The re inspection for this repair is reduced and so attracts additional inspections to be incorporated into the AMP (Approved Maintenance Programme) in order to remain in a compliant condition for Airworthiness.
An “End of Lease Financial Adjustment” is a tool that can be used at the end of a lease period during the hand back process.
It is driven by an evaluation against the lease return conditions; is the aircraft being returned in a condition that is the same as when received, in a better condition or worse condition.
This consideration is not just cosmetic and includes evaluation of multiple factors such as LLP (Life Limited Part) remaining life or any other conditions that stipulate remaining life and or conditions of installation.