This document describes a life cycle cost model for commercial aircraft composite structure. The term life cycle cost used herein, refers to the airline costs for maintenance, spares support, fuel, repair material and labor associated with composites after introduction into service and throughout its useful life. This document contains the equations that can be programmed into software which is used to estimate the total cost of ownership aircraft, including structure. Modification costs and operating costs are estimated over a specified life (any period up to 30 years). Modification costs include spares holding, training, support equipment, and other system related costs. Annual operating costs include: Schedule interruption, fuel, spares, insurance, and maintenance. Maintenance costs are separated by scheduled maintenance or unscheduled damage, or can by grouped into the typical organizations of line, shop, and hangar maintenance. This Lifecycle Cost allows users to evaluate the impact of Service Bulletins, potential design changes, changes in maintenance programs, or effectiveness of maintenance operations.

Purpose

This document describes a way to estimate Maintenance Life Cycle Cost (MLCC) using a model that is a consensus among airframe manufacturers, airlines maintenance organizations, and repair stations. The CACRC is co-sponsored by the Air Transport Association (ATA), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), which acts as secretary and publishes documents. Since this document is in the public domain, it can be used by Original Equipment Manufacturer's (OEM), suppliers, and airlines who desire to estimate these costs for internal use or to communicate externally.

Some of the potential changes that can be justified with the MLCC model include: Service Bulletin implementation, design changes during original production, optimization of airline maintenance programs, overhaul turn-times reduction by additional investing in tooling or facilities, reliability improvements, overhaul program justification, additional training justification, or nearly any other component or operational change.

The CACRC goal for this document is to provide:

a. an educational tool for designers describing life cycle costs,

b. a tool for use by airlines and OEM with which to carry out trade studies that are representative of the cost of airline maintenance, and

c. A standard model that is a consensus of the CACRC members that will hopefully lead to a common language spoken by various airlines amongst themselves and to the various OEMs or suppliers.

Since the actual cost must be calculated with many equations, this document is intended to act only as a blueprint or plan for software that can be developed to meet the specific needs of the using companies. The features of such software can vary considerably, so we have tried to suggest desirable options. Sometimes the optional features are enhancements to increase functionality, and sometimes they are desired to accommodate the different methods airlines use to account for cost and/or gather reliability information. In support of this goal, Boeing has created an MS Excel-based file which implements the equations in this document, available from the SAE.