Providing a piece of the puzzle: insights into the aircraft availability conundrum
Purpose – Aircraft availability (AA) is a key metric for assessing operational readiness. The declining trend in AA is a documented concern for senior Air Force leaders. This paper aims to investigate the components of non-available time and subsequently focuses on the largest and fastest growing ca...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Emerald Publishing
2019-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Defense Analytics and Logistics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JDAL-09-2018-0015/full/pdf?title=providing-a-piece-of-the-puzzle-insights-into-the-aircraft-availability-conundrum |
| _version_ | 1798036102836125696 |
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| author | Jonathan D. Ritschel Tamiko L. Ritschel Nicole B. York |
| author_facet | Jonathan D. Ritschel Tamiko L. Ritschel Nicole B. York |
| author_sort | Jonathan D. Ritschel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Purpose – Aircraft availability (AA) is a key metric for assessing operational readiness. The declining trend in AA is a documented concern for senior Air Force leaders. This paper aims to investigate the components of non-available time and subsequently focuses on the largest and fastest growing category: not mission capable maintenance unscheduled (NMCMU). Then, utilization of aircraft platforms is examined to determine the readiness benefits of increasing available hours. Design/methodology/approach – Stepwise regression is conducted on a data set of 30 aircraft platforms, consisting of 542 observations from 1998 to 2017, to reveal drivers of NMCMU. Next, utilization of aircraft platforms is examined through regression and correlation analysis of aircraft platforms and sorties or hours flown. Findings – Regression analysis reveals drivers of NMCMU include platform type, average age of aircraft, fleet size, breaks and cannibalization. These factors explain 80.6 per cent of the variance in the data set when predicting NMCMU. Additionally, the utilization results show that when more hours are made available, 5 per cent of each new hour is used for flying. Further analysis at the individual platform level finds a strong or moderate correlation between available hours and sorties flown for 93 per cent of the platforms. Originality/value – Implications from the regression analysis demonstrate there are remedies to increase AA, but many of these remedies may be costly. The utilization analysis expresses the potential readiness benefits of increasing available hours. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T21:07:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6faa290b1a1344d9acc7c3924110101f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2399-6439 2399-6447 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T21:07:56Z |
| publishDate | 2019-02-01 |
| publisher | Emerald Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Defense Analytics and Logistics |
| spelling | doaj.art-6faa290b1a1344d9acc7c3924110101f2022-12-22T04:03:09ZengEmerald PublishingJournal of Defense Analytics and Logistics2399-64392399-64472019-02-0131294010.1108/JDAL-09-2018-0015622346Providing a piece of the puzzle: insights into the aircraft availability conundrumJonathan D. Ritschel0Tamiko L. Ritschel1Nicole B. York2Department of Systems Engineering and Management, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, USADepartment of Studies and Analysis, Headquarters Air Force Material Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, USADepartment of Studies and Analysis, Headquarters Air Force Material Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, USAPurpose – Aircraft availability (AA) is a key metric for assessing operational readiness. The declining trend in AA is a documented concern for senior Air Force leaders. This paper aims to investigate the components of non-available time and subsequently focuses on the largest and fastest growing category: not mission capable maintenance unscheduled (NMCMU). Then, utilization of aircraft platforms is examined to determine the readiness benefits of increasing available hours. Design/methodology/approach – Stepwise regression is conducted on a data set of 30 aircraft platforms, consisting of 542 observations from 1998 to 2017, to reveal drivers of NMCMU. Next, utilization of aircraft platforms is examined through regression and correlation analysis of aircraft platforms and sorties or hours flown. Findings – Regression analysis reveals drivers of NMCMU include platform type, average age of aircraft, fleet size, breaks and cannibalization. These factors explain 80.6 per cent of the variance in the data set when predicting NMCMU. Additionally, the utilization results show that when more hours are made available, 5 per cent of each new hour is used for flying. Further analysis at the individual platform level finds a strong or moderate correlation between available hours and sorties flown for 93 per cent of the platforms. Originality/value – Implications from the regression analysis demonstrate there are remedies to increase AA, but many of these remedies may be costly. The utilization analysis expresses the potential readiness benefits of increasing available hours.https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JDAL-09-2018-0015/full/pdf?title=providing-a-piece-of-the-puzzle-insights-into-the-aircraft-availability-conundrumregressionmaintenanceutilizationaircraft availability |
| spellingShingle | Jonathan D. Ritschel Tamiko L. Ritschel Nicole B. York Providing a piece of the puzzle: insights into the aircraft availability conundrum Journal of Defense Analytics and Logistics regression maintenance utilization aircraft availability |
| title | Providing a piece of the puzzle: insights into the aircraft availability conundrum |
| title_full | Providing a piece of the puzzle: insights into the aircraft availability conundrum |
| title_fullStr | Providing a piece of the puzzle: insights into the aircraft availability conundrum |
| title_full_unstemmed | Providing a piece of the puzzle: insights into the aircraft availability conundrum |
| title_short | Providing a piece of the puzzle: insights into the aircraft availability conundrum |
| title_sort | providing a piece of the puzzle insights into the aircraft availability conundrum |
| topic | regression maintenance utilization aircraft availability |
| url | https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JDAL-09-2018-0015/full/pdf?title=providing-a-piece-of-the-puzzle-insights-into-the-aircraft-availability-conundrum |
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