FILOSOFIA ON CONDITION: MELHORIA NA CONFIABILIDADE E DISPONIBILIDADE DA FROTA

Abstract

On-Condition (OC) maintenance emerges as a promising approach to improve the availability, costs, and reliability of aircraft fleet maintenance. This study explores the advantages of this concept, highlighting its focus on replacing components based on real conditions during aircraft operational shutdowns, instead of substantial predefined time intervals, which lead, in some cases, to unnecessary removals of systems or components. To expose the advantages of this philosophy, a qualitative-quantitative approach research was adopted, with bibliographic, documentary procedures, and comparative study. Among the results, it was found that the operational costs related to the Hard Time (HT) philosophy are higher than those associated with OC one and that the equipment is inactive for a longer period during the inspections. In addition, it was found that failures in the execution of maintenance occupy the seventh position among the contributing factors of aeronautical occurrences in Brazil in the last 10 years. Given this analysis, by using OC, airline operators tend to reduce their expenses, also associating preventive maintenance with reducing the downtime of their aircraft. In addition, the implementation of systems responsible for monitoring and diagnosis provide a continuous assessment of the health of the components, allowing precise and timely interventions, which brings more safety to the fleet. By highlighting the benefits of the OC philosophy, this study seeks to contribute to the improvement of the efficiency and reliability of aircraft by airline operators.