A Comparative Study between Paper and Paperless Aircraft Maintenance: A Case Study

Abstract

The rapid growth of airlines over the last period has led to the development of the aviation industry, resulting in increased requirements for ancillary services. Nowadays, the demand for the use of paper-based documents is increasing day by day as airlines encourage passengers to use more ancillary products. One of the most important issues in the aviation industry is flight safety. The procedures and instructions required for all aviation operations are organized in accordance with the regulations and printed on paper in accordance with the demands. For this reason, since it is mandatory to keep all aircraft maintenance, repair, and operation records on printed paper and to keep them for a certain period of time, aircraft fly with almost their entire weight on paper. Considering the global hazards in the world, although the aviation sector is the least environmentally damaging of all transportation sectors, new solutions have been sought to make aviation operations less harmful to the environment, minimize errors and risks, allow for faster communication, and be safer and more sustainable. In order to meet the demands, studies on reducing the use of paper have been brought to the agenda. In this study, after a literature review, real data from a maintenance, repair, and overhaul organization are used to suggest digital conveniences that can save costs, increase productivity, save space, facilitate documentation and information sharing, keep personal information more secure, and help the environment through paperless living.