Technical readiness for a starting airline
Fleet selection, technical set-up, maintenance programme and readiness evidence, joined up from the first plan to the first revenue flight.
Phase: Set up
The situation
An airline preparing to operate has to make its largest technical decisions before it has an engineering department to make them. The fleet must be chosen before the maintenance programme can be written. The programme must exist before maintenance contracts can be scoped. The technical organisation, its procedures and its records system must be in place before the operating approval can be granted. Each decision constrains the next, and a choice made early without engineering input can cost the operator downtime and money for as long as it flies the fleet.
The readiness path
The stages overlap. Programme work starts while the fleet is still being specified, and readiness evidence is collected from the start of technical set-up.
Fleet selection support
We match aircraft category and configuration to the network and the operation: sector lengths, airfields, climate, payload and planned utilisation. We compare candidate aircraft on technical cost, maintenance demands, commonality and availability, and define the specification and acceptance criteria for the agreement. For a start-up airline taking previously operated aircraft, we review records and condition before it commits.
Technical set-up
We help define the technical organisation the airline will need: the functions, their responsibilities and the interfaces between engineering, planning, records, quality and maintenance providers. We draft the technical procedures, specify the records system and its data, and define the scope of the maintenance contracts the operator will rely on, from line maintenance to heavy checks and component support.
Maintenance programme development
We build the initial maintenance programme for the chosen fleet and operation, starting from the manufacturer's planning data and adjusting for utilisation and environment. The programme is ready for the operator to submit, with the supporting justifications. Approval and control of the programme stay with the operator.
Technical readiness for operating approval
We prepare the technical documentation and evidence the operator needs for its approval process, and run gap reviews against the requirements it has to meet. Each gap is listed with the action and owner needed to close it. The operator remains the applicant throughout, presents its own case to the competent authority and answers for it.
Entry into service
We support technical acceptance of the first aircraft against its agreement, set up an early reliability watch to catch defects while warranty and delivery terms still apply, and plan the handover from set-up work to steady-state operation.
Where we fit alongside your team
The operator holds its approvals, appoints its accountable staff and makes every technical decision. We prepare the analysis, drafts and evidence behind those decisions, and work alongside the people the airline recruits. As its own technical staff take up their roles, we hand over each document, procedure and plan with its reasoning, so they can maintain it without us.