A Wadia Group Enterprise

The present state of MRO in India and the wish list from the Operators Babu Peter, EVP Engineering Go Airlines ( India ) Ltd.

Contents Civil Aviation Out Look in India Region Cost Optimization – Survival Mantra of LCC Present State of MROs in India Wish List From the Operators - LCCs

Civil Aviation Out look in India Region Presently 9 th in the Global Civil Aviation Market Expected to become 5 th top Civil aviation Market in the world in the next five years As per certain estimate by aircraft manufacturers 1000 more aircraft to be required by various airline companies in India

Setting up MRO to meet the needs of LCC Early days of Aviation Air travel probably the only means of mass transportation Buck stops at the LCC- Huge responsibility to keep the cost to the minimum and offer best price to the traveling public LCCs in India do not have the luxury what the European and American LCCs have

Competition in Domestic market 3 Full Service Carriers and their Low cost wing Air India, Air India Express Jet Airways, Jet Lite King Fisher, KF Red 3 Low Cost Carriers Indigo Spice jet Go Air

Competition in Domestic market

Managing LCC

Aircraft acquisition/ Leasing costs Line Maintenance Cost LRU support and out of scope items cost Engine Heavy Maintenance cost Lease return cost if the aircraft are on lease New aircraft acquisition cost in case of owned fleet Staff cost and other overheads Fuel cost Major Cost Centers

Managing the LCC No Frill service Highest utilization of the aircraft and crew High seating density and load factors Uniform Aircraft types (usually the B737 or A320) In flight advertisements Sale of Food and other gift items Uplifting of maximum fuel from Low tax locations Keeping the aircraft weight to the barest minimum Control the fuel consumption to the barest minimum Direct booking (Internet/Call Centre – No/min sales commissions)

Cost of Operation of LCCs

Present Status of MROs in India In addition to facilities with Air India and Indian Airlines There were plans to set up at least 8 to 10 MROs capable of maintaining narrow body and wide body air planes Developing existing facilities to take up 3 rd party work is behind schedule Only MRO which has started taking up narrow body aircraft work is Air Works facility at Hosur. Plans for GMR in HYD and MRO in Kochi with CIAL Component Repair MROs like tie up between Air France KLM and Mas Aero space in the pipe line.

Understanding the specific needs of LCC Maximum aircraft utilization Ability to carry out Line Maintenance Checks during the night halt Arranging for out of phase inspections as and when due rather than combining with major checks to keep the C check grounding to the minimum duration. Need for structural damage mapping for taking up the manufacturer for repair schemes which beyond SRM limits. Ability to provide an AOG team with structural and composite repair capability at short notice.

Developing existing facilities to take up 3 rd party work Excellent facilities with Air India, HAL and Armed forces. Not approved by FAA/ EASA. Complex arrangements and time delay before the services can be availed. Cost of grounding an aircraft is approx 50 Lakhs. LCCs will negotiate a price if an AOG can be avoided.

Over coming the challenges in sourcing LRUs and Lessons learnt. Sufficient LRUs are available in the market for narrow body aircraft. No repair facilities for LRUs in India. Purchase option is expensive and exchange option is cost effective. If you exchange your parts you tend to loose the life of your components and will adversely affect your re delivery cost. One option is to do a double exchange or exchange with long lead time for core return so that you can get your component repaired under warranty. Go for a comprehensive LRU support contract which will cover MBK, Pool and door to door transport

Making changes in the regulatory policy to permit minor changes in the aircraft not type certified in this country. Most of the aircraft operating in the county are not type certified in India. As per ICAO guide lines Indian DGCA is not able to certify any changes in the type certified configuration and operators have to either approach FAA or EASA for any deviations however minor they may be DGCA has to find a way to circumvent this restriction to help out operations when they encounter minor problems which are beyond what is specified in the manuals. We need to create DAR/ DER type of arrangements to make sure that the aircraft is not grounded for minor issues due regulatory restrictions.

Identifying type of tooling required for setting up MRO to meet standards specified by manufacturer At present all airlines are buying and maintaining tooling as per their capability. It is expensive to hold all the tooling and maintaining them as per the requirements. We need private agencies to identify the tooling required for the type of aircraft and maintain the same so that it can be borrowed by the airlines as and when required. This will ensure easy availability, cost optimization, and quality to cover all the tasks including out of phase inspections.

Conclusions LCC will play a major role in providing affordable air travel to the common man Like any other business, cost optimization is essential for survival of any LCC. Engineering and Maintenance cost takes away most of the revenue of the LCC Any MRO set up in India needs to address specific needs of the LCC to become successful. Along with infrastructure developments, regulatory changes and Govt. support will be required to ensure minimum aircraft related work goes out side the country and maximum work is brought into the country from outside.

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