IATA Guidance for managing aircraft airwothiness during ...

1 1 Guidance for managing aircraft Airworthiness for Operations during and Post Pandemic Edition 2 07 October 2020 Not controlled when downloaded or printed Guidance for managing aircraft Airworthiness for Operations during and Post Pandemic Edition 2 - 07 October 2020 DISCLAIMER The informat ion cont ained in t his publicat ion is subject t o constant review in t he light of changing government requirement s and regulations. No subscriber or ot her reader should act on t he basis of any such information w it hout referring t o applicable law s and regulations and w ithout t aking appropriat e professional advice. Alt hough every effort has been made t o ensure accuracy, t he Int ernational Air Transport Associat ion shall not be held responsible for any loss or damage caused by errors, omissions, misprint s or misinterpret at ion of t he cont ent s hereof.

2 Furt hermore, t he Int ernational Air Transport Association expressly disclaims any and all liabilit y t o any person or ent ity, w hether a purchaser of t his publication or not , in respect of anyt hing done or omit t ed, and t he consequences of anyt hing done or omit ted, by any such person or ent ity in reliance on t he cont ent s of t his publicat ion. All IATA Covid19 related Guidance materials can be found at For feedback, questions or comments, please contact t echops@iat 2 Guidance for managing aircraft Airworthiness for Operations during and Post Pandemic Edition 2 07 October 2020 Not controlled when downloaded or printed Contents 1 Introduction and Scope.

3 4 2 Objective .. 4 3 aircraft park ing and storage procedures .. 5 General cont ext .. 5 Operat ional and efficiency considerat ions .. 5 Operator s Maint enance Program (OMP) during t he parking and storage period .. 7 aircraft systems specificities .. 9 Electrical and av io ni cs .. 9 Flight Engines and Landing gear, w heels and t Int eriors ..11 Fuel ..12 Environment al Control Syst em (ECS) ..13 Hydraulics ..13 A i r d at a p ro b es a nd s e ns o Lessons learnt ..14 aircraft security 4 aircraft Return to Service (R TS) ..15 G e n e r a l c o ns i d er at i o ns ..15 aircraft records.

4 15 End of preservat ion and aircraft release t o service ..16 aircraft security General aircraft securit y element Cyber Securit y Non-revenue flight OMP subsequent to parking and st Lessons learnt ..18 5 Safety risk and aircraft airworthiness ..20 General recommendat Safety Risk Assessment (SRA) ..21 6 R egulatory requirements ..29 Regulat ory references ..29 7 Commercial requirements ..30 8 F ee dback an d Su p po r 9 Appendix A Abbreviations and Acronyms ..31 10 Appendix B Examples of OEMs docu men ts ..33 11 Appendix C Operators contacting aircraft 3 Guidance for managing aircraft Airworthiness for Operations during and Post Pandemic Edition 2 07 October 2020 Not controlled when downloaded or printed Revision record Symbol Meaning Insert ion Amendment Delet ion Revision table R evision Date Section Significant changes Edition 1 12 Jun 2020 N/A New issue Edition 2 06 Oct 2020 2 Amendment t o updat e t he objective Amendment t o updat e t he forecast info Amendment t o formulat e additional considerations and int roduce some sect ion closing not es Amendment t o capt ure additional info regarding

5 Ni-Cd bat t eries Insert ion of a new sect ion Lessons learnt on aircraft parking and storage Amendment for re-numbering existing sect ion of aircraft securit y considerations for parking and st orage Amendment of t he framew ork w ording for aircraft security considerat ions at aircraft ret urn t o service Insert ion of t he new sect ion General aircraft security element s for aircraft ret urn t o service Insert ion of a new sect ion dedicat ed t o Cy ber security specifics for aircraft return to service Amendment t o clarify some maint enance concerns aft er parking/st orage and highlight t hree cat egories of new maint enance t asks t o be addressed as a consequence of t he pandemic Insert ion of a new sect ion Lessons learnt regarding aircraft ret urn t o service Amendment t o int roduce t hree additional event s t o be considered in t he Safet y Risk Assessment for RTS Amendment t o updat e some references t o regulatory document s App A Amendment of t he list of acronyms App C Insert ed a new appendix w ith w ebsit e cont act s for aircraft OEMs 4 Guidance for managing aircraft Airworthiness for Operations during and Post Pandemic Edition 2 07 October 2020 Not controlled when

6 Downloaded or printed 1 Introduction and Scope This Guidance aims t o provide a tool for airlines w or ki ng t o ensure t he airw orthiness of t heir aircraft fleet and manage t he associat ed safety risks w hile facing t he operat ional challenges int roduced and rest rictions caused by t he COVID-19 worldwide crisis. It is recognized t hat many business decisions regarding t he ut ilization of t he aircraft fleet must be made prior to focusing on airw orthiness ( aircraft parking vs. ret irement, short vs. long t erm parking/storage, locat ion(s) for grounded aircraft ). Those decisions and associated risks are currently out-of -scope for t his Guidance material.

7 The present document w ould be of use t o airlines in t heir act ions to secure a cont rolled safety risk approach in ensuring aircraft airworthiness for: the period of drastically reduced and irregular flying activity or complete stoppage of flight operations, during which aircraft are parked (beyond t he bet w een-flights no r mal p ar king ) or stored the period of gradual return to / restart of a regular flying activity, during which aircraft are ret urned t o service from t heir parked or stored condition Airlines should always refer to the individual aircraft OEM applicable information when deciding on the course of action to follow in implementing any of the elements provided in this Guidance .

8 Such implementation actions should be executed only as allowed by and in concordance with the regulatory provisions governing the airline activity. The scope of t his Guidance is t o highlight t he t ype of considerations w hich t he airlines should fact or in w hen pursuing t echnical operations w ith aircraft airwort hiness relevance w hile also assuring asset value for ow ners / lessors of t he aircraft and it s components. While t his Guidance w as developed in t he cont ext of COVID-19 imp act o n t he airline indust ry, it s cont ent w ould be t ransferable t o any similarly consequent ial disruption of aircraft operations. This Guidance w ill be updat ed as required when additional relevant information becomes available.

9 2 Objective The purpose of t his Guidance is t o provide t he operat ors w ith practical element s, rat ionale, suggest ed specifics and lessons learnt in order t o maintain an accept able level of safet y at all t imes and ensure t he aircraft airw ort hiness during and emerging from t he operational crisis This document provides informat ion on t he considerations for a safet y risk assessment and fo r mul at es recommendat ions on mitigations to such risks associated with ext ended grounding of aircraft and subsequent restart of operations. 5 Guidance for managing aircraft Airworthiness for Operations during and Post Pandemic Edition 2 07 October 2020 Not controlled when downloaded or printed 3 aircraft parking and storage procedures General context The significant drop in airline operational activit y led t o t he grounding of approximately two thirds of t he global airline fleet (at t he peak impact reached in A p r il 2 02 0) and w it h an estimated (as revised at t his t ime) yearly decline of RPKs in 2020 by around two thirds ( w it h domestic and int ernational t ravel combined)

10 1 Ensuring aircraft airworthiness is an essent ial element to t he safet y of airline operations and t he challenges of preserving t he cont inuity of aircraft airwort hiness in t he condit ions of a massive and prolonged inactivity of t he global fleet are numerous. The aviat ion industry infrastructure is not optimized t o accommodate a simult aneous grounding of t he majority of t he fleet and airlines ended numerous operat ions w it h t emporary or ext ended p ar king of aircraft out side of t heir normal hub locat ions, serviced net work stations or maint enance facilities t hey customarily us e. While t here are alw ays t echnical challenges t o be addressed w hen maint aining t he airw orthiness of an idle aircraft even w hen it s ext ended grounding is met iculously scheduled, t his is additionally compounded for cases of prolonged parking in locat ions w it h limited capability/support regarding aircraft accessibility, availability of consumables p ar ts GSE and specialised workforce, adverse met eorological phenomena ( t yphoon season) or an aggressively corrosive environment ( at mospheric high salinity and humidity).