November/December 2023 - 38

DOM DISCUSSION
Joe Petrie: How are you preparing your maintenance
operations to integrate these two new aircraft
into operations for Sun Air Jets?
Rob Cox: Fortunately, I'm lucky enough to have a
Rob Cox, Executive
Vice President and
Director of Maintenance
for Sun Air Jets
SUN AIR JETS
hangar full of experienced guys. Prior to the aircraft
coming, we focused on factory training. We did factory
training on both. There's more than one or two
technicians in my organization that have training
on these two aircraft.
These aircraft just are of the next step in aircraft
that we previously had. It's a minor step for us to take
all these new types of aircraft, these new model aircraft
in the same lineage as the other aircraft we've
had before. We have the equipment and tooling and
resources to do that. Also, it's a great resource to have
the manufacturers so we lean on them.
JP: It's a small step, but there is more sophisticated
equipment on board. How do you ensure your
technicians are prepared to handle these upgrades?
RC: That's where the factory training comes in.
Make sure you include
as many of your
maintenance staff as
possible with OEM
training available
with the integration
of new aircraft.
SUN AIR JETS
We rely on primarily FlightSafety for the training.
When these aircraft come new from the factory,
they come with training slots as part of the purchase
agreement. We still have some more training
to do going into next year for both aircraft and as
a company. We do continuous training as we go
on every two years. Most of the time it's factory
training or other related courses like avionic-style
development courses. We take these small steps
forward and it's manageable.
JP: As the maintenance director, how do you
ensure the ongoing maintenance program for these
two aircraft to ensure they keep in operation as
much as possible?
RC: The approach to a new
aircraft doesn't change much
compared to older aircraft or
a legacy aircraft. You want to
make sure that we have the
equipment, the proper test
equipment and everything that
we need to maintain it. We just
opened up a new big facility
in Van Nuys last year, so that
helps out. The approach doesn't
change much from plane to
plane other than training the
right people.
JP: What steps do you take to
ensure you have the right equipment
in the shop?
RC: When you're taking
delivery of an aircraft, they'll
provide you with a list of the
necessary equipment and tooling and give you
access to it. You may not have to go out and
purchase every single piece of it, but we do have
access to it at our fingertips. In Van Nuys, most
of the equipment we already had from previous
aircraft and some of the ground support equipment
we've already had. We do have to add some
specialty stuff for particular aircraft, but it's
pretty minimal.
JP: These are long-range aircraft. Does this influence
your approach to overall maintenance of the
aircraft?
RC: We don't have any choice other than to do the
manufacturer's maintenance program. We follow
the approved maintenance plan. They fly a long time
before a lot of scheduled maintenance is done. So the
upkeep, the servicing, the tires, the pre flights and
stuff like that, databases and charts, that's ongoing
stuff, but it's not much different than some of the
legacy aircraft.
JP: How does this impact your spare parts strategy
as an operation to ensure you're well stocked?
And what does this do as far as your approach
to spare parts?
RC: There are some strategic spare parts, usually
wheels, some of the high failure items or high
usage items, consumable type of items to stock.
Other than that, the manufacturers do a really good
job of housing that stuff and stocking that stuff.
Gulfstream has a warehouse in Van Nuys, which
is right around the corner from our hangar. So we
visit that whenever we need to.
38 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023
AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
November/December 2023

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