Learning from past in the aircraft maintenance industry: An empirical evaluation in the safety management framework

Tyagi, Alok; Tripathi, Rajesh; Bouarfa, S.

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21620

Learning from past in the aircraft maintenance industry

Title

Learning from past in the aircraft maintenance industry: An empirical evaluation in the safety management framework

Author

Tyagi, Alok (UPES University)
Tripathi, Rajesh (UPES University)
Bouarfa, S. (TU Delft Air Transport & Operations)

Date

2023

Abstract

The growth of commercial air transport arguably translates into more aging passenger aircraft queuing up for major maintenance, modifications, and/or freighter conversion with the aircraft maintenance industry. In the competitive business environment, this increased maintenance demand possesses the potential to stress the industry and make safety vulnerable. In the aircraft maintenance industry, several aircraft accidents and incidents have resulted from organizational failure to learn from the past. To address this chronic problem, this study aims to (a) establish a learning process model for the aircraft maintenance industry, (b) identify the factors that influence learning, and (c) determine the effect of identified factors on learning from the past. A review of scholarly articles and regulatory publications enabled the development of learning from the past process model and a data collection tool, followed by structural equation modeling to quantify the relationship among influencing factors. The study was conducted in the Indian aircraft maintenance environment and is based on the perspective of the front-line maintenance staff. The study found that safety communication is the decisive stage for learning from the past. Contextualization of the safety information and evaluating the lessons learned during safety communication strongly impact learning from the past, for which existing regulatory provisions are vulnerable. The findings of this study are meant to assist State regulators and management of the aircraft maintenance industry; nevertheless, safety managers and practitioners in other ultra-safe, high-risk sectors may also apply the results in compliance with the respective regulatory guidelines.

Subject

Hazards
Regulatory framework
Safety communication
Safety investigations
Safety management system
Voluntary reporting

To reference this document use:

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:8933ad1e-2d90-4222-98e4-0447b280556a

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21620

ISSN

2405-8440

Source

Heliyon, 9 (11)

Part of collection

Institutional Repository