Whether you’re talking on-demand, jet cards, corporate, or personal/VIP flights, private aircraft operations are still being racked up at a fantastic rate across the board. Sure, they’re not to the chart-topping numbers we saw a short while ago, but hey, glass half-full here, they’re pretty darn awesome.

Of course, the dark cloud to that silver lining is that more in-flight hours mean more on-ground hours for required inspections and maintenance. The bottom line is that the record-setting flight hours that the fleet is racking up is putting an unprecedented strain on the MROs’ ability to keep up with demand. There aren’t enough skilled technicians to go around.

And if there’s one thing aircraft owners hate more than high costs, it’s excessive downtime. Nobody buys a jet to see it sitting on the ramp or in the hangar. So, keeping up with a short and consistent TAT (turnaround time) is crucial to get the aircraft back in flight as quickly as possible.

It’s estimated that mechanics spend more than 50% of their time on less productive tasks such as manually processing paperwork, ordering parts, looking for engineering drawings, and searching the back office to find reference material. None of these efforts generate revenue. In fact, this time spent is a significant cost for the MRO.

And it’s all too common that many MROs still face challenges such as legacy systems including Excel spreadsheets, customized partial solutions for MRO activities, and another system for back-office processes. These create pain points and integration challenges, which can lead to poor data integrity causing all kinds of problems.

There are maintenance tracking software solutions that can help organize, schedule, plan and track activities and even though these can help solve some problems, it’s rarely sufficient. They are just tools that cannot handle all maintenance issues. However, Cutter Aviation is using some modern software to help with that issue. 

“Bluetail is a game-changing platform for MROs as it allows us to efficiently manage aircraft records in a digitized, organized, and easily accessible way. It’s a practical solution that compliments existing maintenance tracking programs, which helps us save time, reduce paperwork, and provide better service to our customers. Highly recommended.” Miranda Fernandez, Customer Relations Director for Cutter Aviation

An easy way to help keep the required on-ground time to a minimum is to have all your aircraft’s maintenance and operational logbooks and supporting records digitized to save countless hours and dollars on your aircraft’s scheduled and unscheduled maintenance. 

“In general terms, it’s extremely beneficial and oftentimes necessary to have access to maintenance records. Having digital records available when an aircraft comes in for maintenance provides quick access and easy searchability. Digital records provide another tool for us to utilize in the fight to meet aggressive schedules. In this industry, every little bit helps.” Alex Jozsa II, Chief Inspector for Duncan Aviation  

When all aircraft data is accessible and searchable with the click of a few buttons it allows for shorter TATs and better planning. The MROs are more productive, and the aircraft owners generate revenue faster if on a charter certificate and have more availability to fly their aircraft themselves.

To learn more about how easily Bluetail can help make your maintenance tasks faster and more efficient, sign-up for a demo today: https://bluetail.aero/free-demo