Preventive Maintenance at General Aviation Airports Volume 2: Guidebook (2015)

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10 3.1 Introduction This chapter provides a road map for the development and implementation of a preventive maintenance program for an airport. For airports with minimal or no preventive maintenance program, suggested steps to develop or improve a preventive maintenance program are discussed in this guidebook and include those in Figure 3.1. Throughout development and execution of a preventive maintenance program, important stakeholders such as maintenance staff, policy makers, tenants, and users should be educated and involved, as appropriate. Key policy makers need to adopt the program. 3.2 Facility Condition Assessment When establishing a new PM program for an airport, the facilities should first be invento- ried and their conditions assessed. Airport management needs to be familiar with the airport’s infrastructure systems, their components, condition, and expected life before failure. There are well-established criteria for assessing and documenting the condition of airfield pavements, but to-date there has been little formal guidance for other types of airport infrastructure systems. In some cases the assessment may be as simple as a visual inspection of the system (e.g., airfield markings). In other cases, such as with terminal buildings, the assessment will be much more complex and may involve the assistance of contractor personnel to evaluate the condition of HVAC, electrical, and plumbing systems. Chapter 4 provides a description of the components in each of these infrastructure systems and provides inspection checklists that may be used to assist in the evaluation of the systems. However, assets such as HVAC systems, roofs, buildings, and pavements may require the help of professionals to assess their condition. Once a PM program is established, a facility condition assessment should be a regular activity. For example, building roofs should be inspected not only at the beginning of a new PM program, but twice a year looking for blistering, plugged drains, or damage from adverse weather. Airport management may wish to focus the initial assessment efforts to establish a preventive maintenance program on the critical assets. These are the assets that, if they failed, would have a significant impact on safety at the airport or the airport’s ability to serve users. Each airport will have to determine its own critical assets, but they typically include the primary runway system, major taxiway(s) system, parking apron, terminal building, and access roads. 3.3 Life-Cycle Considerations Airport infrastructure and the individual components have life expectations that depend on how well they are maintained. A motor on an automated gate will fail if not maintained in a C H A P T E R 3 An Airport Preventive Maintenance Program

An Airport Preventive Maintenance Program 11 certain manner. Fan belts that show signs of fraying can easily be predicted to fail in the near future. Pavements with unsealed cracks will fail before similar pavements with sealed cracks. At some point, all facilities will reach the end of their economic lives, even those that are well- maintained. One key to an effective PM program is to know when that life span is expected to be reached and to understand if and when specific PM activities can reasonably extend that life or if major rehabilitation or replacement is the better option. For example, underground electrical cable and transformers for an airfield edge lighting system typically last up to 20 years. If the system is 15 years old or older, and frequent failures of sections of the system are happening, it is likely time to plan for system-wide rehabilitation. Continuous repair of transformers and replacement of burned-out bulbs in an aging system in lieu of system rehabilitation may not be cost-effective. See Section 2.3 of this guidebook for additional discussion about the economic benefits of preventive maintenance. An annual review of the condition of each element of airport infrastructure is recommended, along with development of plans for timely replacement of deficient systems. These plans should be incorporated into budgets and capital improvement plans. Life-cycle considerations are important when trying to decide whether to maintain, repair, or replace infrastructure. This is especially the case with vehicles, HVAC systems, roofs, and Understand and embrace important guiding principles of a program (Section 2.5). Establish a baseline of information about the airport’s infrastructure/condition (Section 3.2). Identify the preventive maintenance needed for all infrastructure (Chapter 4). Prioritize maintenance based on safety, economics, airport operations, contractual requirements, and extending facility life (Section 3.6). Obtain the resources needed for a program, including funding, staffing, equipment/tools, and outside contracts (Chapter 3). Establish schedules and implement the program. Figure 3.1. Steps to develop or improve a preventive maintenance program.

12 Preventive Maintenance at General Aviation Airports pavements. Questions that airports may wish to consider when deciding whether to continue to maintain or replace infrastructure include the following: • Is the infrastructure or component near or beyond its expected life? • Do the facility’s reliability and consequences of its failure pose an unacceptable risk? • Will the continued maintenance costs and repair/rehabilitation costs exceed the cost of replacement? • Does the facility’s performance have a track record of being unacceptable, and will corrective maintenance measures lead to acceptable performance? • Is additional facility capability or capacity needed, and will replacement of the system provide that? Key elements to be considered in decision making are not always capital costs. Customer service, user requirements, safety, and the consequences of failure all should be considered when deciding whether to continue with preventive maintenance or replace a system or component. 3.4 Budgeting Airports need to prepare annual budgets that include the PM program. The budget would cover staffing, materials, tools and equipment, spare parts, and any significant local costs for capital projects related to PM (e.g., a new drainage pipe). The annual assessment of the condition of facilities and the periodic PM for infrastructure will provide information to help establish the budget requirements. When entities such as the state or FAA are able to help fund eligible projects, the local share needs to be covered in the budget. The amount of infrastructure an airport has, the age of facilities, and staffing levels affect the required budget for PM. Airports vary widely in the amount of funding they dedicate to PM. The airport interviews conducted in the development of this report found that these airports dedicated from 6% to 40% of their budget to maintenance. Airports in colder climates and airports that were financially self-sufficient tended to dedicate more funding to PM than did other airports. During the course of the airport interviews, a commonly heard statement was “We just don’t have enough money to perform the maintenance that needs to be done.” This statement is a corollary to the phrase “There’s never enough time to do it right, but there’s always enough time to do it over.” Ignoring or delaying PM indefinitely will never save the airport money in the long run. Poorly maintained equipment and infrastructure will fail sooner and more often than properly maintained equipment. Frequently, the cost of the ultimate repairs is several times more than the cost would have been to perform the PM. Budgeting for and performing PM is an area where the airport simply cannot afford to be shortsighted. There are a number of states with funding programs specifically designated for maintenance at airports. States typically use general revenue and fuel taxes to help finance their programs. Airport officials should contact their state aviation office and become aware of these types of funding sources in their state and take advantage of them to the fullest extent possible. One robust state program funds eligible projects, including the following: • Pavement maintenance and repairs, including pothole repair, grass removal, crack sealing, and pavement surface treatments such as slurry seals; • Removal of vegetation that causes pavement deterioration, impeded drainage, and deterioration of facilities and that obstructs the visibility of fenced areas;

An Airport Preventive Maintenance Program 13 • Replacement of pavement markings; • Obstruction removal on airport property or on property where the sponsor has the rights to top or completely remove the obstruction; • Repairs of airfield lighting systems, visual aids, automated weather observation systems, ground communication outlets, and pilot briefing systems; • Emergency repairs of a facility that will prevent its destruction or deterioration if not performed immediately; • Replacement of bulbs, gaskets, transformers, cables, wind cones, and such used in eligible lighting and visual aid devices; • Repairs to fueling systems, including repairs to electrical systems, pumping systems and lines, and containment systems, as well as rust removal and painting; • Repairs to terminal buildings and maintenance equipment storage buildings, as well as associated systems and equipment that are eligible for funding under the state’s airport capital improvement program; • Quarterly or annual inspections of airport lighting systems, visual aids, automated weather observation systems, and emergency generators; • Obstruction removal and replacement of cones due to normal wear for grass runways; and • Maintenance equipment such as mowers, tractors, mower attachments, spray attachments for vegetation control, sweeper attachments, snow blades, front-end loaders, trucks, and small utility vehicles. Much of this list is more extensive than basic PM, but airport management should be aware of and consider the state’s ability to help with all maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation. The state’s ability to help can directly influence how extensively an airport might perform PM on an aging facility. 3.5 Organizational Structure and Staffing How should an airport be organized and staffed to perform preventive maintenance? There is no single answer to this question. Many small general aviation airports handle all airport operations and maintenance with one or two people. Sometimes the airport manager does it all. Large and very busy general aviation airports with several hundred based aircraft in major metro- politan areas tend to have larger staffs handling maintenance and operational requirements such as snow removal. Some airports are also able to rely on other resources, such as the city depart- ment of public works. However, non-airport department staffs may have other priorities that may affect the level of service provided to the airport. Whatever staff handle the PM program, they need to be properly trained and competent to perform the job(s). Some airports are able to have specialists that can focus on basic air- field electrical systems, high-voltage systems, vehicle maintenance, building systems such as HVAC and roofs, and turf/drainage. Other airports have the same person do all of this. Regardless, the staff need to be properly trained, have the appropriate work licenses, and fully understand the requirements of working at an airport (i.e., where they can and cannot go on the airfield). Airport management needs to be prepared for the times when key staff retire, depart for other positions, or are simply unable to go to work at critical times to perform PM. Formal checklists, good recordkeeping, and some redundancy in staff capabilities can help in this regard. Appendix C provides samples of basic job descriptions for employees that perform various levels of airport maintenance.

14 Preventive Maintenance at General Aviation Airports 3.6 Prioritizing Preventive Maintenance The cost of preventive maintenance and major rehabilitation of systems often exceeds available funding. Airport management and policy makers should use an objective process to help set priorities for maintenance activities and projects. To make cost-effective decisions between full replacement or continued maintenance of facilities such as HVAC systems in buildings, managers can use life-cycle considerations (see Section 3.3). Also, prioritization should reflect considerations such as: • Safety. Daily inspections and maintenance should ensure that the airport infrastructure is safe for pilots and other airport users. This should be a top priority. • Operations. There should be a focus on the most critical assets first. For example, work on a major runway should have a higher priority than work on an infrequently used taxiway or apron. • Economics. Evaluate the cost that may be incurred if PM is delayed. For example, an over- flowing ditch may be causing damage to adjacent pavements, so delaying ditch maintenance may result in an increased cost to repair pavement or edge lighting damage. • Contractual Obligation. Leases with airport users typically have requirements that the air- port owner will properly maintain facilities owned by the airport. For example, an aircraft owner fully expects to be able to open the hangar door. Also, the state/federal grant obliga- tions requiring that pavement and other facilities must be maintained need to be taken seri- ously. Future funding for airport projects may be denied if routine PM of existing facilities is ignored, regardless of the reason. • Accessibility. The main access road and the appropriate amount of auto parking need to be properly maintained so that they remain usable and users can access the airport from the landside. Similarly, the main taxiways and aprons that provide access to the terminal area have high priorities for PM. • Other. There are other considerations that airport management might use to help prioritize preventive maintenance. For example, an airport master plan may indicate that the airport has excess aircraft parking apron. Some of this apron may be old surplus apron. The proper deci- sion might be to abandon maintenance actions on the unused apron areas while the airport focuses on other higher priorities. 3.7 Using Contracts and Other Agencies Airports sometimes are required or have the option to contract with outside entities to perform routine preventive maintenance work that may be beyond the capabilities of the airport staff. Examples of this are HVAC service, herbicide application, equipment/vehicle maintenance, service to motorized gates, formal pavement condition assessments, and high-voltage electrical work. In those cases where the airport is owned by a municipality, the airport sponsor might consider including the airport in any applicable contracts that are being let by the municipality. Examples are areas such as HVAC maintenance and vehicle maintenance. Outside contractors are often used for highly specialized navigational facilities such as automated weather observing systems. In addition, the resources of other agencies may be available to assist the airport with its PM needs. City public works departments were previously mentioned as a possible resource for assistance. In some cases, the state aviation division may provide resources for airports to use in the performance of their PM. At least one state has purchased crack-sealing equipment that is available to any airport in the state to use. The state provides training on how to use the equipment, and the airport is responsible for purchasing the crack-sealing material. This has resulted in

An Airport Preventive Maintenance Program 15 considerable savings to airports and a significant improvement in the maintenance of pavements at airports throughout the state. 3.8 Tools and Equipment A good PM program includes provision of the appropriate tools and equipment needed to effectively perform the maintenance. While the specific type of required tools and equipment will vary from airport to airport depending on the complexity and amount of infrastructure and the climate, general requirements include: • Hand tools, • Mowers, • Weed trimmers, • Snow removal equipment, • Maintenance vehicles, • Maintenance equipment storage, and • Personal safety equipment for maintenance personnel. In addition to tools and equipment, airports should maintain an inventory of spare parts for replacement of those items that are normally required as a result of actual or anticipated failure. Examples are airfield lightbulbs, isolation transformers for light fixtures, and fan belts. 3.9 Work Orders and Recordkeeping Once a PM program has been developed, staff and budget are in place, and schedules of activities and priorities are established, the program is implemented. An important part of implementing a PM program is to use an effective work order system to keep track of and sched- ule activities. This system can also be used for follow-up work that is identified from periodic inspections. Work order and recordkeeping systems range from a simple paper filing system that contains daily, weekly, monthly, and annual inspection forms to a fully automated system such as a com- puterized maintenance management system (CMMS). There are various commercial vendors that offer CMMS products for airports. The actual system used at the airport will depend on the complexity of the airport and the availability of resources for maintaining the recordkeeping system. If this system is automated, costs can more easily be tracked, trends monitored, and management can easily monitor progress. Also, automation helps with retention of records and preventing knowledge loss due to change in personnel. Regardless of whether a work order system is automated, there is still significant benefit from being able to track schedules and completion of work through even a manual system. As long as the system provides a means to schedule inspections and PM, records the results of the inspections, and can be used to track maintenance and spot trends, it can be an effective tool in a PM program. Work orders are forms that are used to identify maintenance work (PM or repair work) that needs to be accomplished, records what action was taken to correct the situation, who performed the work and when, and whether any further action is required. They are frequently used in situations where the person who schedules the work or identified the problem is not the person who will perform the actual maintenance. The person completing the work writes what action was taken on the form and returns it to be filed. Work orders are extremely useful in verifying that PM has been performed and in tracking maintenance actions and spotting maintenance trends. A work order system, of course, also needs a tracking mechanism such as calendar alerts for when the work is due.

16 Preventive Maintenance at General Aviation Airports Recordkeeping systems should include checklists and inspection forms for the airport and each infrastructure system. These checklists should identify the components for inspection and the PM activities that need to be performed. Upon completion of the inspections or completion of a maintenance action, the checklist or work order should be filed in some manner. This may be as simple as placing it in a three-ring binder or filing it in a folder according to the type of equipment worked on or the month in which the maintenance was performed. Automated maintenance records provide a readily available and searchable history of work activities and help with sharing of knowledge from routine inspections or the compilation of maintenance information for reports. Regardless of the type of recordkeeping system used, recordkeeping is a valuable tool in a PM program. When used properly it can assist in discovering maintenance trends, formulating future maintenance plans, and justifying the need for maintenance funding.