Aircraft maintenance

Watch the video: Maintenance and weight checks

With Aircraft need maintenance on, an aircraft can be out of service for a while after a hard landing or when a check is due, as in a real airline. This article covers what grounds an aircraft, what pilots see, and how staff bring one back early.

Switching it on

Open Staff → Airline settings → Settings → Flights & scoring, then the Maintenance card. Tick Aircraft need maintenance and save. It's off until you switch it on. You need the Airline settings and the operations key permission.

The card sets the limits:

• Inspection after a landing harder than (fpm): empty uses the Hard landing level of your Failure rules when they are on and that level is set, otherwise the firm/hard limit of your Scoring page. The page shows which one applies.
• …or a landing of at least (G): empty is 2.0 G; 0 means never because of G.
• The inspection lasts (hours): empty is 24 hours.
• Scheduled check every (airframe hours): the aircraft is out for 12 hours each time; 0 means no scheduled checks.

What grounds an aircraft

• A hard landing. When a filed flight lands harder than your limit, or at the G limit or more, its aircraft goes in for an inspection for the hours you set.
• An overweight landing, with the Weight check on. When a flight lands over the aircraft's maximum landing weight, the aircraft goes in for an inspection for the same hours as after a hard landing. See Weight check.
• A scheduled check. When the aircraft has flown the airframe hours you set since its last check, it goes in for 12 hours.
• Its condition, with the economy on. When your airline uses the economy, checks come from the aircraft's condition instead of hours: each flight wears it down, and at the check level it goes in for 12 hours.

If staff correct a PIREP's landing and it isn't hard any more, the inspection that landing caused ends by itself, as long as no later flight was flown on the aircraft.

What pilots see

An aircraft in maintenance can't be booked: it isn't offered when pilots book, on the website or in the EFB. On the Fleet page pilots see In maintenance and until when.

Bringing an aircraft back early

On Staff → Operations → Fleet:

• Release from maintenance on the aircraft's line ends its inspection or check now. Pilots can book it again straight away.
• For several aircraft, tick them and choose Return to service (ends maintenance) under With the ticked aircraft, then Apply.
• Send to maintenance in the same list puts the ticked aircraft in for the Days (for maintenance) you type, with a Reason (for maintenance) such as a C-check.

Ground is different: it takes an aircraft out of service until you press Return to service, whether maintenance is on or not. Every change goes into the activity log.