Vector Aircraft Services – Making Compliance a Benefit not a Burden Part II

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:21:00 GMT

In part two of this post I will explain how Vector operates and the output that could be of benefit to aircraft owners and or operators and anyone with an interest in managing aircraft maintenance.

I talked about the varied fleet we manage as a standalone Part M Sub Part G organisation in part one of this post. Currently this fleet numbers 12 different types of which most number one or two aircraft. Most airlines and hence the Continuing Airworthiness support departments cannot afford to operate varied types and small fleets.

For Vector we can ill afford to turn away business and hence are having to find different ways to manage Continuing Airworthiness such that we can manage these small fleet numbers.

The many changes; regulatory, type certificate holder, operator actions, are multiplied with this varied fleet. Starting from a basis of having well developed process and procedures and an airline standard maintenance system, we at Vector were well placed to support the aircraft but with growth quickly realised that the administrative process of many individual actions required to meet the requirements, was becoming difficult to manage even with developed process and procedures. In addition, the requirements to quickly increase in house capability, meant a way was required to train new employees more quickly and efficiently.

In identifying these requirements, we have embarked upon mapping our processes and turning these into step by step workflow that is instigated at the start of the main process and then cues each task for the person required to action. This way staff can be trained on each individual task, the administrative flow of the process need not be remembered, documents, forms and checklist are automatically retrieved and stored, management oversight of any process can be readily seen and compliance can be ensured.

The above process initially seemed simple, however the mapping of very step and turning into workflow has proved time consuming but has resulted in even further development of existing procedures.

By now you may be thinking how does this affect me? In addition to reducing costs and improving response time the method of working reduces errors. In the current climate of need for cost reduction and increased flexibility, Safety Management Systems and with notification of EASA Ops introduction, all of these benefits become increasingly essential.

In my next post I will look at the information relating to EASA Ops and how it affects operators.

Vector Aircraft Services – Making Compliance a Benefit not a Burden

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:10:00 GMT

I think most if not all of us of us in aviation have had cause to comment on the never ending round of changing regulations affecting our industry. For those of us in Europe, the introduction of EASA whilst levelling the field in some areas, has resulted in confusion and consternation at the changes of what were previously thought to be accepted and agreed methods of compliance. We are not immune to these issues but we do thrive on achieving compliance in the most cost effective way.

Our experience in developing aircraft related businesses has led us to firmly believe that by applying best practice to reduce costs and maintain or improve asset value in the area of aircraft management, compliance is a by product. As an independent Part M Sub Part G approved organisation currently managing a mixed fleet of 23 aircraft, we routinely monitor the changes in regulations and are involved in the development of best practice so that our business can grow. In future blog posts we want to highlight what we are doing for our own business to meet or exceed our customers' needs including the interpretation of changes in the regulations to best suit the business.

One of our core values is integrity so I will make it clear that we are looking to use this blog and all the social media avenues, that I barely understand, to highlight how we go about our business and to demonstrate our potential. This with a view to convincing you that we offer an option for your aircraft asset or aviation organisation. Even if this is not the end result, as a member of what is a relatively small community, we would still like to think we have provided some support to those that feel that Aviation regulation is burdening and not benefitting the aviation industry.

On a monthly basis I will be picking out an area of regulation or reviewing an issue we have come across in our own operation, that we think may be of interest. I look forward to inspiring some thought and hopefully comment.