Constant Aviation has added three new locations to its US aircraft on ground mobile response network. Teams will deploy from Van Nuys in California, Bedford in Massachusetts and Sugarland in Texas, bringing the number of locations within the U.S. where AOG teams are based to 27, a 28% growth in locations since 2020. Additionally, Constant has become the first independent MRO to recieve SMS Level 4 certification from Wyvern.

Its aircraft on ground (AOG) service has been expanding over the past year because of growing demand stemming from increased private aviation activity. During 2021, technicians have been called from the AOG centres to more than 300 airports to provide repair, maintenance or avionics services or to help return to service aircraft that had been parked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“One of the most attractive features of private jets is that they can fly out of 5,000 airports versus the 500 that serve commercial aircraft, enabling travellers to fly closer to their final destinations. However, many of these smaller airports lack much in the way of maintenance capabilities,” says Paul Witt, Constant Aviation's vice president of AOG operations. “Our aircraft on ground teams can travel from strategically located centres around the country to any airport within hours, if not minutes, to provide critical services that keep aircraft flying safely.”

Constant AOG mobile teams now support 86 aircraft models from 14 manufacturers, and each AOG vehicle is fully equipped and supplemented with expanded tooling strategically placed around the country, so aircraft can be serviced wherever they are located.

“The growth in flights is a great sign for the recovery not only of private aviation but also of the larger American economy it serves,” adds Witt. “By increasing the number of AOG centres around the country as well as the number of mobile teams and highly trained technicians, we have the surge capacity to meet this growth no matter where it occurs.”

Constant's functional SMS had been accepted by the FAA in April 2021, making it only the fourth MRO overall out of the more than 4,500 maintenance organisations within the US to achieve that designation.

SMS data has been maintained by ICAO since 1997. Analysis of this data demonstrates that SMS programmes help mitigate aviation safety risk. The concept has become the standard for safety programmes in aviation worldwide.

The FAA Part 5 SMS programme, established in 2015, provides aviation organisations with systematic procedures, practices and policies to manage safety risk. Constant has progressed through the programme’s three levels: Active Applicant, Active Participant and Active Conformant. Having gained Active Conformant status, coupled with other progressive SMS achievements, it has merited receiving Wyvern's first ever SMS Level 4 certification specific to MROs.

“The recognition by Wyvern of our safety management system affirms our dedication to making the highest standards of safety part of our daily operations,” says David H. Davies, chief executive officer, Constant Aviation. “This achievement is made possible by ensuring that all of our team members have the skills, training, resources and conditions they need to ensure their safety, the safety of the flight crews and the safety of the passengers who fly on the aircraft entrusted to us.”