A New Line Maintenance Project for B787 Aircraft

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Introduction

Table 1: Project Scope Statement.

Project Title: A New Line Maintenance Project for B787
Date: 26 January 2022 Prepared by:
Project sponsor	British Airways (BA) Engineering
Project Justification	B787 is one aircraft that is suffering from quality issues following the notification from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The aircraft has also experienced some accidents over the past few years. As a result, there is a need for a new line maintenance program is necessary in order to make sure the aircraft is safe and airworthy.
Project scope	In scope The acquisition of a maintenance work station at British Airways. The acquisition of B787 spare parts and maintenance tools. The acquisition of the B787 aircraft maintenance manual from the company. Development of a maintenance plan for the aircraft. Development of a maintenance team certified by Part 66. European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Part 145 Training program for the maintenance team. Out scope Approval of the workstation.
Project deliverables	Initiation Approval to start the project Introduction to relevant stakeholders. Planning Determine the layout of the space. Design the space. Find if there is an B787 maintenance manual. Determine whether there are spare parts and maintenance tools or not. Assess the existing vendors to the airways. Assess the existing maintenance team. Execution Design the space identified. Organize the space. Provide tenders for unavailable spares and tools Analyze the tenders. Award tender and purchase the materials. Check the quality of the materials Equip the work station. B787 maintenance manual. Apply for part 147 approval. Staff training module. Train the staff and seek certification for those who do not Safety risk assessment manual. Apply for part 145 approval. Monitoring Check the progress of the maintenance plan. Get feedback. Closure Hand-over the project.
Project acceptance criteria	The project will be accepted once completed with the set timeline and budget. The project will be accepted if the organization is able to provide effective maintenance based on the requirements for purposes of meeting safety requirements. The project will be considered successful if the organization can ensure that the maintenance team are certified and trained regularly to equip them with the necessary skills.
Project constraints	The project is limited to the provided scope. Time constraint. Cost constraint. B787 maintenance requirements.
Project Assumption	The project will be completed within the set timeline and budget. The aircraft maintenance team will be trained based on the requirements. It is assumed that the B787 spare parts will be sourced easily.

In the aviation industry, aircraft maintenance is integral in ensuring that an aircraft operates effectively. According to Stoop, de Kroes and Hale (2017), safety is an important issue in the effective performance of an organization in the aviation sector. Line maintenance is an aircraft maintenance area that involves regular checks such as lubrication, evaluation, and rectification of any defects (Reason and Hobbs, 2017). This maintenance aims to promote safety and eliminate accidents caused by human errors. For example, according to AAIB, the accident by British Airways B787 was caused by human error (Frances, 2019). Based on this, the airways require a new line maintenance for B787 to improve its safety and airworthiness. The project manager is tasked with planning and delivering of B787 maintenance project for British Airways.

Project Purpose

The aim of this project is to plan, create, and implement a maintenance program for the existing B787 aircraft for British Airways.

There is a need for ample space where the operation will take place within the airways to achieve this.
The space will be equipped with maintenance tools ranging from B787 spare parts and equipment required for the process (Karami, 2017). In addition, skilled personnel with a good understanding of aircraft operations are necessary.
EASA part 145 approval will be sought to ensure that the maintenance department is certified and can engage in the aircraft’s maintenance, inspection, and alteration.

The stakeholders in relevant departments within the airways will be allowed to view, manage and update the project’s status.

The quality department manager will be engaged in most areas, such as purchasing spare parts, hiring employees, training, developing a maintenance manual, and more (Classen, Werner, and Jung, 2017).
The finance manager will be required in most of the stages where funds are required. The project manager will organize meetings and communicate regularly with various stakeholders within and outside the organization. For example, communication with key stakeholders on the project status will be done every Wednesday and Fridays through either virtual or physical meetings.

Work Breakdown Structure

Task name	Duration (Days)	Start Date	End Date	Cost ($) in billion
Initiation The project manager is notified to start the project. The project manager is introduced to relevant stakeholders.	4	20/2/2020	24/2/2022	0
Planning Find out if there is a space that can be used for maintenance operations. Determine if the airways have a B787 manual or not. Determine the type of spare parts and tools required for the maintenance. Identify the vendors to supply the tools and spare parts. Identify the type of qualification the maintenance team should have to work.	11	25/2/2022	6/3/2022	0.001
Execution Design an aircraft maintenance space. Create the space for the aircraft maintenance program. Provide tenders Select the best tender. Order the spare parts and tools required to perform the maintenance from the identified vendors. Check the quality of the supplies Create a daily B787 maintenance plan for the team. Hire a qualified maintenance team and have part 66 certification to run the program. Apply for part 145 and part 147 approval. Conduct training on the team.	60	7/3/2022	5/5/2022	12 (McFadden and Worrells, 2012, p.64)
Monitoring The maintenance operation runs, and the project manager shifts to monitoring and controlling. Checks and re-checks the operations. Obtain feedback from the stakeholders.	15	6/5/2022	21/5/2022	0.001
Closing The task is completed. The project manager and technicians review the integrity and serviceability. The leadership of the airway is informed about the status of the project.	2	22/5/2022	27/5/2022	0

Table 2: WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (Modified from source: Usmani, 2022).

A Network Plan

Project Activity and Nodes

Project Activity	Nodes
Notification to start the project	A
Introduction to relevant stakeholders	B
Find a space, design, create the space,	C, D, E
Provide tenders	F
Select the best tender	G
Purchase the tools	H
Determine the quality of the tools	I
Create a maintenance module	J
Hire maintenance team	K
Get part 145 and 147 approval	L, M
Staff training	N
Project monitoring	O
Project control	P
Checks and re-checks	Q, R
Get feedback	S
Technician review	T
Project status update for approval	U

Table 3: PROJECT ACTIVITY AND NODES, a plan on how the project will handled (Modified from source: Usmani, 2022).

Figure 1: A NETWORK PLAN FOR THE PROJECT, a plan on how the project will handled (Modified from source: Usmani 2022).

A Resource Plan

Resource	Department	Assigned task
Project sponsor	Executive	A, B
Project manager	Project management	F, G, H, J, O, P, S, U
Designers	Design	C, D, E
Finance manager	Finance	Q, R
Quality engineer	Quality	I, L, M, Q, T
Vendors	Supply chain	H
HR manager	HR	K, N,

Table 4: A RESOURCE PLAN, indicate the tasks assigned to different people (Modified from source: Plan 2019).

The Four Main Risks

The project’s performance risk occurs when it fails to deliver results that fulfil its objectives. For example, a project can be completed on time and within the set budget but fails to achieve the desired outcome (Sanchez and Terlizzi, 2017). If the outcome causes the project’s cost and duration to increase, it is due to performance risk. For example, this project aims to plan and create an effective maintenance program for B787 aircraft (Naghizadeh et al., 2017). In addition, it is intended to promote safety and make the aircraft airworthy. The failure to achieve the anticipated safety, the project would be considered unsuccessful. The airways would have misused funds and time on a project that failed to accomplish its goals.

Poor communication among the project team and stakeholders may affect the project’s outcome. When one controls a project, one must adhere to a work ethic of efficient and time-based communication (Bandage et al., 2018). Organizing meetings with relevant stakeholders like project sponsors enables a project manager to update any modifications to the project, reassign tasks, and create a cohesive team. However, poor communication resulting from system failure or just ignoring the message may lead to data loss or misinformation and project disruption (Lundgren and McMakin, 2018). For example, ineffective communication between the project manager and finance team of the airways may hinder the project of operations, such as the purchase of spare parts. Therefore, inadequate communication is one of the risks that can affect the project.

The failure to comply with regulatory authorities is one of the risks that the project may experience. Compliance has always been an important aspect for organizations in the aviation industry (Cokorilo, 2020). There is a lot of pressure from regulatory authorities for airways to comply with the set safety standards and requirements. For example, it must obtain parts 145 and 147 approval for the project to be considered successful. If the maintenance project does meet the set standards, there is a high probability that it will not be approved. This means that the project manager will be required to identify the faults and solve them to approve the project. Apart from parts 145 and 147, a quality department is expected to approve the spare parts and materials to be used in maintenance.

The unavailability of skilled and licensed employees to help with the maintenance program. The effectiveness of labors’ better training has a substantial effect on increased project production. The shortage of experienced professional laborers directly impacts the productivity of aviation projects (Banfield, Kay and Royles, 2018). In addition, there is a relationship between a lack of qualified staff and a downturn in project productivity. Projects with unskilled staff experience higher material and labor costs, project delays, inadequate scheduling, and a lack of quality to meet the project’s target. As a result, the project’s success depends mainly on a skilled labor force to help run the maintenance operations.

Risk Prioritization, Assessment and Control

The identified risk should be prioritized, analyzed, and controlled. The risk prioritization should be done to ensure that the project team majors on addressing the more important one. For example, as shown in the table below, the project team should consider mitigating the performance risk due to its likelihood and prioritization ranking. The risks should be assessed to determine their impact on the project’s performance. For example, the maintenance project might fail if there is a lack of trained and licensed employees to run the process. Based on the impact of these risks, they should be mitigated. There are various mitigation strategies that the project manager can use to counter the risks. Therefore, risk prioritization, analysis and control are crucial in managing risks.

Risk ID	Risk	Likelihood	Severity	Rating	Risk owner	Mitigation
	Performance	1	A	1A	Project Manager	Focus on the project scope.
	Poor communication	3	C	3C	Project manager	Establish appropriate communication set-up.
	Failure to comply with the set regulations	1	A	1A	Trainers, quality department, suppliers, project manager	Ensure that the set standards are adhered to during project.
	Lack of skilled and certified employees	1	B	1B	Trainers and project manager	Outsource professionals who have worked in a B787 maintenance departments.

Table 5: RISK ASSESSMENT AND CONTROL, risks that can affect the project (Modified source: Boom et al. 2021).

Measuring Risks Likelihood

Likelihood	Meaning	Value
Frequent	The risk is likely to happen many times	5
Occasional	The risk is likely to happen sometimes	4
Remote	The risk is unlikely to happen, but there is a possibility	3
Improbable	The risk is very unlikely to happen	2
Extremely Improbable	The risk is almost unimaginable that it will occur	1

Table 6: MEASURING RISKS LIKELIHOOD, how risks are rated (Modified source: Bohman 2020).

Measuring Risk Likelihood and Severity

Risk Probability / Likelihood		Risk Severity
		Catastrophic (A)	Hazardous (B)	Major (C)	Minor (D)	Negligible (E)
The risk is frequent	5	5A	5B	5C	5D	5E
The risk can happen occasionally	4	4A	4B	4C	4D	4E
Remote	3	3A	3B	3C	3D	3E
The risk is unlikely to happen	2	2A	2B	2C	2D	2E
The risk is unimaginable	1	1A	1B	1C	1D	1E

Table 7: MEASURING RISK LIKELIHOOD AND SEVERITY, how risks are measured (Modified from source: Bohman 2020).

Project Controls

Project control is a function that is integral for achieving successful projects. The success of a project entails having the right team tools and making sure there is adequate time for project planning (Kerzner, 2018). One of the project controls to be managed during the project is a schedule. A project manager will ensure that all the tasks are completed within the set project. The other project control is budget management because it can determine the success or failure of the project (Kerzner, 2018). I will ensure that ensure the project operates within the set budget. In addition, the risks identified will be managed effectively prior to and during the project. Therefore, the identified controls are effective in completing the project.

Conclusion

The new line maintenance project is critical to ensuring that B878 functions efficiently. Line maintenance is a kind of aviation maintenance that entails routine checks such as lubrication, appraisal, and repair of any problems. The primary goal of this project is to increase safety and reduce accidents caused by human error in the airways. The project manager is tasked with planning and executing a B787 maintenance project for British Airways. The project will take about three months to be completed. The project starts with initiation and ends with closure and handover to the airways. To effectively achieve the project goals, aspects such as budget, risk, and schedule will be monitored closely. As a result, appropriate operations will ensure that the project’s objectives are met.

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