Aircraft repair ‘a team effort’

[unhappycamper]

Aircraft repair ‘a team effort’
By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Nov 7, 2008 15:06:56 EST

To get aircraft out of repair hangars and onto the flight lines faster, the Air Force has changed how it sets aside money for aircraft maintenance.

The major commands used to set priorities and, with Air Force Materiel Command, schedule and pay for large depot-level overhauls and parts supplies. But Air Force maintainers fight an increasingly tough battle to have aircraft ready to fly.

In 2008, there were widespread groundings of four models of aircraft because of maintenance-related safety worries — F-15 Eagles, B-2 Spirits, T-38 Talons and A-10 Thunderbolts.

So when it came time to map out the maintenance budget request for fiscal 2010, representatives from the major commands, the Air Staff, and maintenance and logistics specialists created a unified proposal, said Ken Watson, a deputy chief division manager at the Pentagon.

With all the organizations at the same table, the leaders weighed individual major commands’ priorities against each other and the service’s main concerns, such as improvements to the nuclear missile force. And the maintenance budget became an Air Force-wide plan for the first time.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/11/airforce_aircraft_availability_110708/%2e