[aviation news]
Keeping out of operation requires constant maintenance and generates millionaire costs – a little known challenge that the air industry has faced a large scale
During the Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of commercial aircraft were stored at airports and hangars around the world, generating millionaire costs and logistics challenges for manufacturers and airlines.
Prolonged storage required constant maintenance, strict care for the equipment and unprecedented adaptations in the companies’ courtyards. The episode exposed the complexity and financial impact of keeping whole fleets out of operation for months or years.
Store aircraft for long periods – especially when there is no immediate return on operations – generates high costs to airlines and operators. These costs vary according to the size of the plane, the place and the type of storage.
On average, maintaining a narrowbody, such as an A320 Airbus or a Boeing 737, costs between $ 2,000 and $ 6.3 thousand per month, depending on the maintenance level adopted – the higher the lawsmith for immediate return to service, the higher costs. Widebodies, such as the A380, A350 or 777, can exceed $ 10,000 per month.
Prolonged storage requires frequent inspections, preventive maintenance and strict environmental control – factors that increase costs compared to short -term storage. Climatic Hangar offers greater protection, but is more expensive. Exposure to weather in open areas, although more economical, requires additional inspections and maintenance.
Factor 737 Max
When the pandemic appeared in 2020, most airport courtyards and storage facilities in the United States were already occupied by hundreds of Boeing 737 Max, who remained drunk since the global suspension of the model in 2019. This situation created an additional challenge for airlines that had to find adequate space to store thousands of other aircraft due to the dramatic demand for demand Flights. The scarcity of appropriate areas has increased logistics costs and required improvised solutions, such as the use of taxiing clues and even vehicle parking lots, further expanding the complexity of inactive fleet management.
The stoppage affected about five hundred Boeing 737 MAX, including one hundred newly halved units of the factory, after two fatal accidents within five months. The crisis reduced by $ 41.5 billion the market value of Boeing and resulted in an estimated $ 1.5 billion loss on canceled flights.
Storage costs vary according to the aircraft model. The 737 Max 9, with an empty weight of 70,990 pounds, represented at the time the highest cost among family models. However, airlines that stored large fleets have managed to negotiate lower prices per scale.
Storage requires constant maintenance, even when planned that aircraft remain out of operation for long periods. Motors need to be triggered weekly, verified electronic systems and tested control surfaces. In addition, exposure to heat, sand, insects and even bacteria can compromise component life.
Prolonged stoppage also imposed challenges on the operational resumption. At the end of the storage period, each aircraft required a thorough review that took weeks compared to the few days required after short -term storage.
The crisis also led to the temporary suspension of 737 MAX production in January 2020, due to lack of space for new aircraft in Boeing and storage facilities in the United States. At the time, about four aircraft were already stored, and some needed to be parked even in areas intended for employees’ cars at the Renton unit.
The resumption of deliveries occurred gradually after the approval of the Federal Aviation Agency of the United States (FAA) and other regulatory agencies, and until April this year, 97 units were still stored, waiting for delivery, according to Flight Plan estimated.
The crisis that paralyzed the 737 Max flights and the mass storage of fleet during the pandemic exposed the high costs and the logistics complexity involved in the extended storage of aircraft.
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