The Role of MRO Shops

It has been 116 years since the Wright Brothers, the great pioneers of aviation, made the first successful airplane. They were able to fly their craft for 4 miles. A few years later, we had Wright Flyer III that was more sustainable and more controlled. Men, like Alberto Santos-Dumont, made efforts to remove the requirements of a catapult. Over time, the human race added propellers, gas turbines, electric motors, rockets, and so much many others staples of technology. We created gliders, jets, helicopters, and more to take our place in the skies above.

Now a days, 2.7 million passengers fly in and out of U.S airports alone. A single aircraft can travel hundreds of miles in a single trip, a far cry from the Wright Flyer I’s range of 4 miles. With the large number of planes that are in the air, and the massive number of people, who are dependent on air travel for seeing their families, for their lesiure, and for their livelihood. The Aviation MRO (Maintance, Repiar, Overhaul) industry popped up to insure that these planes were fit to fly, and when they weren’t, to fix them.

A single aircraft can cost upwards of hundreds of millions of dollars, and having it grounded can cost airlines millions of dollars a day. At the same time, a malfunctioning component, can cost hundreds of lives depending on the size the of the plane. For this reason, the MRO industry is one of the most heavly regualted industries in the US by the FAA.

Once a part is removed from an aircraft and sent to an MRO Shop, there are 3 facets that the part can fall into: Test, Repair, Overhaul.

• Test — to see if there is any thing wrong with the component, if there is, then to identify and document the issue
• Repair — Once a problem is identified, to follow the proper procedure to repair the component.
• Overhaul — If the issues with the component are severe and expansive, the repair can transform into a overhaul where many of sub-componenets, are completely replaced rather that just repaired.

These processes are done to the specification of the Component Maintenance Manual, or CMM. This manual outlines how test, repair, and overhaul tasks should be completed. If the procedure, piece part, or test is not written in a CMM, it should not be done, untill it can be verfied and formally placed in a CMM.

Once the job is completed, the MRO shop has to specify what was done on the component to insure that the component is airworthy. This is done in the form of document known as the 8130–3.

This is one way the FAA, CAAC, other governing avaition bodies, and MRO shops insure that planes take to skies safely and responsibly.