 on Wednesday issued a show cause notice to the low-cost carrier. The airline, according to the DGCA, failed to set up secure, effective, and reliable aviation services.){kind=link}
Gurgaon-based SpiceJet is caught in the middle of a controversy as a number of air safety accidents have angered the Indian aviation authority and damaged trust among investors and passengers.
Reuters
Following the airline’s report of eight malfunction incidents in the previous 18 days, the regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday issued a show cause notice to the low-cost carrier. The airline, according to the DGCA, failed to set up secure, effective, and reliable aviation services.
High rates of flight cancellations and an increase in customer complaints about the airline have only made matters worse.
Therefore, it is easy to think of aeroplane maintenance as simply “fixing what’s broken.” But there’s much more to it than that to keeping an aeroplane healthy and in flying condition.
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Who does the maintenance work of aircrafts?
Commercial aircraft are intricate machines with tens of thousands of separate parts. Commercial aircraft come in many varieties, but they are all quite complicated. As a result, they need routine maintenance to give their individual crews and passengers a safe flying experience.
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In India, all airline firms operate aircraft. All of these aircraft are maintained by their own firm or with assistance from outside maintenance providers. Meanwhile, the majority of India’s airlines have their maintenance performed by Air India Engineering. It is entirely distinct from Air India Engineer. Despite being sold to Tata, the government still owns Air India Engineer.
Each commercial aircraft’s maintenance and inspection tasks are broken down into different categories. Every aircraft has a general inspection prior to takeoff, which is typically performed by the pilot or co-pilot along with the maintenance team.
Reuters
The equipment relating to the cabin crew is checked by the pilots during this. A few checks are performed every two days, while others are performed after each flight has completed 300–400 hours. This also includes an exhaustive investigation, or in-depth examination of the aircraft.
It’s vital to remember that commercial aircraft’s tyres contain nitrogen rather than air. Due to changes in the environment, air can expand and contract. Air-filled tyres lose pressure as the air gets colder and less thick. On the other hand, excessive environmental-related expansion and contraction are prevented in tyres filled with nitrogen. They don’t contract in the otherwise severe climate at high elevations. As a result, nitrogen rather than air is used in the tyres of the majority of commercial aircraft. During a basic inspection, maintenance experts will check the commercial aeroplane’s tyres and fill them with nitrogen if necessary.
Aircraft maintenance is a big industry
Reuters
In the present, as the number of aeroplanes in the nation has expanded, the task of aircraft maintenance has also increased significantly and is also growing to be a significant industry. Repair, maintenance, and overhaul of aircraft are all done by aircraft maintenance businesses.
In this, there are firms like Airworks, Max Aerospace Group, Air India Engineering, and GMR. The interesting thing is that SpiceJet’s sister firm also handles jet maintenance and repairs.
India’s policy for Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) industry
Jyotiraditya Scindia, India’s minister of civil aviation, spoke about a number of adjustments the country wants to make to the MRO industry in September of last year. He criticised the fact that India only accounts for a meagre 2.5 percent of the enormous $80 billion worldwide aeroplane maintenance market.
Reuters
Some significant modifications to MRO policy to draw investment include
-Instead of being allocated based on an entity’s request, leasing of land will henceforth be done through open tenders.
-Instead of the current 3 to 5 years, land for MRO facilities would be allocated for 30 years.
-Instead of the existing procedure where tariffs are set by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), lease rentals would be decided through a bidding process.
-Instead of the existing 7.5 to 10% yearly increase, the rate of lease rental escalation would be 15 percent every three years.
The ministry also identified eight AAI-run airports where MRO facilities will be developed – Begumpet, Bhopal, Chennai, Chandigarh, Delhi, Juhu in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Tirupati.