Analysis of maintenance control center operations

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has recommended a nation-wide maintenance automation system (MAS), which will include maintenance control centers (MCCs). Three operational concepts were developed to consolidate the real-time monitoring, coordination, and remote maintenance at the MCCs. The three concepts were then evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively. Surveys and questionnaires were used to develop the qualitative criteria for evaluation of the concepts and included such concerns as the service to air traffic controllers and the users of the National Airspace System, impact on the maintenance workforce and, impact on risks and costs. The remote-maintenance workload was then assigned to the MCC or the local work centers in order to compare the staffing implications. The results suggest an MCC starting with an initial staff-type facilitator MCC performing only monitoring and coordination and evolving into a super MCC responsible for most remote maintenance and control functions