Accelerating Engine Overhauls Through Proactive Planning

The aviation industry faces persistent challenges in reducing engine overhaul turn-around times (TAT). At the heart of these issues lies a critical gap in visibility — Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) providers typically lack timely access to data from airlines regarding the timing and condition of incoming engines. Typically, engine configuration data is delivered only days before an engine is inducted for a shop visit, and the timing of induction itself is often poorly estimated in advance. This lack of foresight exacerbates inefficiencies and delays. 

In recent years, one of the focus areas of my team has been in solving these challenges in collaboration with the brilliant leaders at our partnering operators, MROs, and OEMs. In this article, I will share the key insights we have gained through that collaboration.

“When MROs gain visibility into an operator’s data regarding remaining engine life and utilization trends, the timing of shop visits can be accurately forecasted.”

LEVERAGING OPERATOR DATA FOR ADVANCED PLANNING

When MROs gain visibility into an operator’s data regarding remaining engine life and utilization trends, the timing of shop visits can be accurately forecasted. For engines under service agreements, this visibility allows estimates to be made 1-2 years in advance, and further refined as the shop visits draw nearer, which enables strategic capacity planning. Accurate predictions help MROs allocate resources and schedule workflows, ensuring smoother operations and significantly reducing TAT. Beyond timing, access to detailed engine configuration data — including Life-Limited Parts (LLP) statuses, other part conditions, and compliance with Service Bulletins (SB) or Airworthiness Directives (AD) — enables accurate pre-workscoping months in advance. This foresight provides multiple advantages:

• Production Planning: With a clear picture of upcoming work requirements, MROs can allocate labor, tools, and facilities more effectively;
• Aftermarket Sourcing for Older Engines: Early access allows MROs to source used LLPs and other parts from the aftermarket. By selecting components with optimal life remaining, MROs can reduce maintenance costs by up to millions of dollars per engine, avoid tying up capital in new parts, and optimize inventory management.
  
  

IMPACT ON TAT AND COST SAVINGS

Optimizing TAT is critical in an industry where even slight delays can lead to significant costs. Engines often sit idle for weeks or months during shop visits due to inefficient planning processes. Reducing TAT lowers the number of spare engines airlines need to keep on hand or lease. Given the high value of these assets, the financial benefits are substantial. The reduced TAT and material costs associated with improved data visibility are among the most significant value drivers for both MROs and asset owners. By aligning their operations, MROs and airlines can unlock immense mutual benefits.

“Optimizing TAT is critical in an industry where even slight delays can lead to significant costs. Engines often sit idle for weeks or months during shop visits due to inefficient planning processes.”

AUTOMATING THE DATA EXCHANGE

To achieve these efficiencies, manual updates to asset data are impractical. Continuous, automated data flow from the operator’s system to the MRO is essential. Daily updates on all assets under service agreements enable early identification of changes in utilization trends, allowing forecasts to be dynamically adjusted. Once the data pipeline is established, an application for forecasting and pre-workscoping is required. Current data-sharing practices for induction documentation — relying heavily on static PDF documents — create bottlenecks. PDF files are not 
reliably machine-readable, requiring error prone manual data entry into the MRO’s Maintenance & Engineering (M&E) system. An additional benefit of the digital data exchange is allowing the induction documentation data to be automatically ingested to the MRO’s M&E system. This addresses the issues described above and eliminates the manual data entry effort.

BI-DIRECTIONAL BENEFITS: POSTSHOP DATA EXCHANGE

Automation also enhances post-shop visit processes. By applying the same principles of data exchange in both directions, post-visit data can be extracted digitally from the MRO’s system and sent back to the airline. This eliminates manual data entry on the operator’s side, saving 2-3 days and reducing human errors. Crucially, the operator must retain control by reviewing the data before it is ingested into their system. This can be achieved either within the operator’s M&E system, if supported, or via a dedicated application built on top of the data 
exchange platform.

CONCLUSION

Automated, seamless data exchange between airlines and MROs represents a transformative opportunity to 
reduce engine overhaul TAT by weeks or even months. By enabling early planning, precise pre-workscoping, and streamlined workflows, both MROs and asset owners stand to benefit from substantial cost savings and operational efficiencies. As the aviation industry continues to embrace digitalization, such innovations are not just a competitive advantage but an essential step toward a more efficient and collaborative future.