Aircraft redelivery glossary.

The operator's approved programme of scheduled maintenance tasks and intervals for an aircraft, usually developed from the manufacturer's maintenance planning document. Return conditions commonly require the aircraft to have been maintained under the approved programme and to be returned with no tasks overdue.

Also known as: Approved maintenance programme

See also: Maintenance planning document, Bridging check, C-check

A mandatory instruction issued by an aviation authority, such as EASA or the FAA, to correct an unsafe condition in an aircraft, engine, propeller or appliance. At redelivery, lessors usually expect a complete AD status report and evidence of compliance for every applicable AD.

See also: Terminating action, Service bulletin, Status reports, Dirty fingerprintGuide: Aircraft redelivery checklist

In the EASA system, the certificate showing that the aircraft has passed an airworthiness review. It is normally valid for one year and is among the certificates checked when an aircraft moves between operators.

See also: Certificate of airworthiness, Continuing airworthiness management organisation

A two-digit reference from the ATA iSpec 2200 numbering system that identifies aircraft systems across manuals and records, for example chapter 32 for landing gear, 49 for the APU and 72 for the engine. Records indexes and findings lists are often organised by ATA chapter.

See also: Technical records, Records package

A small gas turbine, usually in the tail, that supplies electrical power and air on the ground and in some phases of flight. Leases commonly set APU return conditions, such as a minimum time remaining before the next shop visit or compensation for the time consumed.

See also: Borescope inspection, Half-life condition, End-of-lease compensation

The documented history of a part, typically a life-limited part, from manufacture to its current installation: every operator, installation, removal and shop visit, with the life consumed in each period. Without it, the remaining life cannot be demonstrated and the part may be refused at redelivery.

See also: Life-limited part, LLP status sheet, Dirty fingerprintGuide: Back-to-birth records and LLP traceability at aircraft redelivery

An inspection of internal engine or APU parts using an optical or video probe inserted through access ports, without disassembly. Lessors commonly require borescope inspections at redelivery, often witnessed by their representative; an unsatisfactory result can lead to a shop visit or a compensation claim.

Also known as: Boroscope inspection

See also: EGT margin, Engine shop visit, Joint inspection

A set of maintenance tasks performed when an aircraft moves from one maintenance programme to another, so that its status under the new programme is established. It is often discussed at redelivery when the next operator's programme differs from the current one.

See also: Aircraft maintenance programme, C-check

The informal name for the documents showing that cabin materials, such as seat covers, carpets and curtains, meet the applicable flammability requirements. Missing burn certificates are a common records finding when cabin furnishings have been replaced during the lease.

Also known as: Flammability certificates

See also: Layout of passenger accommodation, Records audit

A heavy airframe maintenance check performed at the interval set by the maintenance programme. Return conditions often specify the airframe check status at return, for example a check completed within a set period before return or a minimum interval remaining to the next one.

Also known as: Heavy check, Airframe check

See also: Redelivery check, Aircraft maintenance programme, Bridging check

The certificate issued by the state of registry confirming that an aircraft conforms to its type design and is in a condition for safe operation. When the aircraft moves to another register, the exporting state usually issues an export certificate of airworthiness.

See also: Export certificate of airworthiness, Deregistration, Airworthiness review certificate

The document, record or photo that proves a finding or requirement has been resolved, such as a signed work card, a release certificate or a records extract. A finding is usually treated as closed only once the lessor has accepted its closure evidence.

See also: Finding, Open items list, Dirty fingerprintGuide: Managing redelivery findings and the open items list (OIL)

In the EASA system, the organisation responsible for managing an aircraft's continuing airworthiness, including its maintenance programme, AD compliance and records. Its records and status reports are the starting point of the lessor's records audit.

See also: Airworthiness review certificate, Technical records, Status reports

One take-off and landing. Cycles drive the life of many structural items and of engine life-limited parts, which is why records track them as closely as flight hours.

Also known as: Flight cycle

See also: Time since new and cycles since new, Life-limited part

A record of the location, size and assessment of every known dent, buckle and repair on the airframe, usually kept on aircraft diagrams. Lessors expect an up-to-date chart at redelivery, consistent with the repair records and the physical inspection.

Also known as: Dent and buckle chart

See also: Structural repair manual, Repair approval, Joint inspection

A defect whose rectification has been postponed under the operator's approved procedures, for example within the limits of the minimum equipment list. Many leases require the aircraft to be returned with no deferred defects, or only with those the lessor accepts.

Also known as: Acceptable deferred defect (ADD)

See also: Minimum equipment list, Finding

The condition the aircraft was in when the lessee accepted it, as recorded in the delivery documents and the acceptance certificate. Return conditions are often defined by reference to it, so discrepancies accepted at delivery can matter years later at redelivery.

See also: Technical acceptance certificate, Return conditions

A flight performed before return, usually with the lessor's representative on board, to show that the aircraft and its systems operate correctly. Where a lease requires one, it normally defines the flight profile and how defects found during the flight are treated.

Also known as: Acceptance flight

See also: Joint inspection, Redelivery check, Ferry flightGuide: Aircraft redelivery timeline

The removal of an aircraft from the register of its current state of registry, which is required before it can be registered elsewhere. When the aircraft changes register at the end of the lease, deregistration and export documents become redelivery milestones.

See also: Export certificate of airworthiness, Irrevocable de-registration and export request authorisation

The original work card or record of a maintenance task, signed or stamped and dated by the certifying staff, showing what was done, against which data and what was found. Lessors often ask for DFPs as proof of AD compliance, repairs and the history of life-limited parts, rather than relying on summaries.

See also: Back-to-birth traceability, Airworthiness directive, Technical records

A lease of the aircraft without crew, under which the lessee operates and maintains it under its own air operator certificate. Most operating leases are dry leases, and their return conditions govern the condition in which the aircraft comes back.

See also: Operating lease, Wet lease, Return conditions

The difference between an engine's exhaust gas temperature limit and the temperature it reaches at take-off under reference conditions. It is a key indicator of engine health and of how long the engine can stay on wing before a performance restoration.

Also known as: Exhaust gas temperature margin

See also: Engine condition trend monitoring, Performance restoration, Borescope inspection

A payment at return that adjusts for the difference between the aircraft's actual maintenance status and the status the lease requires. Depending on the lease, it can replace physical work, complement maintenance reserves and, in some cases, be paid by the lessor to the lessee.

Also known as: Return compensation, End-of-lease adjustment

See also: Maintenance reserves, Half-life condition, Full-life conditionGuide: Lease return conditions

The continuous analysis of engine parameters such as exhaust gas temperature, fuel flow and vibration to detect deterioration early. When assessing an engine at return, lessors commonly ask for trend monitoring reports alongside the last shop visit report and the LLP status.

See also: EGT margin, Engine shop visit, LLP status sheet

The removal of an engine for maintenance in a repair shop, for example to restore performance or replace life-limited parts. Shop visits are among the most expensive redelivery events, so their timing relative to the return date is one of the earliest decisions in the plan.

Also known as: Shop visit

See also: Performance restoration, Life-limited part, EGT marginGuide: Aircraft redelivery timeline

An operator document that instructs how to accomplish a task, such as an airworthiness directive, a service bulletin or a modification, on a specific aircraft. Engineering orders link a requirement to the work actually performed and form part of the compliance evidence.

See also: Airworthiness directive, Service bulletin, Modification

A certificate issued by the authority of the exporting state stating that an aircraft conforms to its type design and is in a condition for safe operation at the time of export. It is typically needed when the aircraft moves to another state's register after redelivery.

Also known as: Export C of A

See also: Deregistration, Certificate of airworthiness

The estimated financial and schedule impact of findings and contractual risks that remain open, such as compensation, holdover rent or additional maintenance. Tracking exposure while there is still time to act helps choose between rectification, compensation and negotiation.

Also known as: Redelivery exposure

See also: End-of-lease compensation, Holdover rent, FindingGuide: Managing redelivery findings and the open items list (OIL)

A non-revenue flight that positions the aircraft, for example to the maintenance organisation, the return location or a storage site. Leases often state who bears the cost and risk of ferry flights connected with the return.

Also known as: Positioning flight

See also: Demonstration flight, Deregistration

A discrepancy raised during a records audit, inspection or test against the return conditions or the applicable standards. Each finding needs a severity, an owner, a due date and closure evidence, and stays on the open items list until it is closed.

Also known as: Discrepancy

See also: Open items list, Closure evidence, Records auditGuide: Managing redelivery findings and the open items list (OIL)

A return standard, or valuation assumption, under which the airframe, engines and major components come back with no maintenance life consumed since their last relevant maintenance event, or the lessor is compensated for the life consumed. Like half-life, it is an industry convention that may not appear in the lease itself.

See also: Half-life condition, End-of-lease compensation, Maintenance reserves

The comparison of the aircraft's forecast or actual status at return with each return condition, to identify the work, documents or compensation still needed. It is the starting point for the redelivery work scope and budget.

See also: Return conditions, Requirement matrix, Redelivery checkGuide: Aircraft redelivery timeline

An industry term for the status in which each maintenance-driven component is halfway between major maintenance events. Leases that use it as a reference usually provide for a payment adjusting the difference between the actual status and the half-life point, in one direction or both depending on the lease.

See also: Full-life condition, End-of-lease compensation, Maintenance reservesGuide: Lease return conditions

A component that must be removed for overhaul or replacement at a fixed interval of hours, cycles or calendar time. Return conditions commonly require a minimum time remaining on hard-time components, supported by a component listing and release certificates.

See also: On-condition component, Time since overhaul and cycles since overhaul, Release certificate (EASA Form 1, FAA Form 8130-3)

Rent payable when the aircraft is returned after the scheduled return date, for example because the return conditions are not yet met. Some leases set it above the normal rent, which makes delays at the end of a lease particularly expensive.

Also known as: Penalty rent

See also: Exposure, Redelivery acceptance certificate

A standard form, published by the Aviation Working Group and IATA in versions for aircraft and for engines, in which the operator certifies for its period of operation that the aircraft or engine was not damaged in, or the cause of, a reportable incident or accident as defined by ICAO Annex 13. It is widely used in place of bespoke non-incident statements.

See also: Non-incident statement, Back-to-birth traceabilityGuide: Back-to-birth records and LLP traceability at aircraft redelivery

An instrument under the Cape Town Convention, lodged with the aircraft registry, that allows the named party, usually the lessor or its financier, to request deregistration and export of the aircraft. It is mainly used when an aircraft must be recovered without the lessee's cooperation, for example after a default.

See also: Deregistration, Export certificate of airworthiness

The physical inspection of the aircraft carried out with the lessor's representatives before acceptance, usually during or at the end of the redelivery check. Defects found are raised as findings and agreed for rectification, deferral or compensation.

Also known as: Physical inspection, Redelivery inspection

See also: Redelivery check, Finding, Lessor technical representativeGuide: Aircraft redelivery timeline

The shop maintenance of the landing gear at the interval set by the manufacturer, usually expressed in years and cycles, whichever comes first. Because overhauls take time and exchange units are limited, the gear's status at return is planned early, and leases often require a minimum time remaining to the next overhaul.

See also: Life-limited part, Hard-time component, Half-life condition

The drawing that defines the cabin layout: seats, galleys, lavatories and the location of emergency equipment. Return conditions may require a specific configuration, and the cabin's actual layout and its approval documents are checked at return.

See also: Burn certificates, Modification

The lessor's engineer or consultant who audits the records, attends the inspections and recommends acceptance. Agreeing early how the representative will raise comments and review evidence avoids late surprises.

Also known as: Tech rep

See also: Joint inspection, Records audit, Pre-redelivery meeting

A part with a mandatory life limit, expressed in cycles, hours or calendar time, after which it must be permanently removed from service. Engine disks and shafts, landing gear components and some APU parts are typical examples; their remaining life, and the records that prove it, weigh heavily on value at redelivery.

See also: Back-to-birth traceability, LLP status sheet, Time since new and cycles since new, CycleGuide: Back-to-birth records and LLP traceability at aircraft redelivery

A certified list of the life-limited parts installed in an engine, APU or landing gear, with part and serial numbers, life limits, life used and life remaining. For engines it is often called a disk sheet, and the life of each part is tracked at every thrust rating it has operated at.

Also known as: Disk sheet

See also: Life-limited part, Back-to-birth traceability, Status reportsGuide: Back-to-birth records and LLP traceability at aircraft redelivery

The manufacturer's document listing the scheduled maintenance tasks and intervals for an aircraft type, from which operators build their approved maintenance programme. Boeing publishes its equivalent as Maintenance Planning Data.

Also known as: Maintenance Planning Data

See also: Aircraft maintenance programme, C-check

Supplemental rent paid by the lessee during the lease, usually monthly and based on flight hours, cycles or calendar time, to fund major maintenance events. The lessee can usually claim reimbursement after a qualifying event; depending on the lease, unused reserves are often retained by the lessor at the end of the term.

Also known as: Supplemental rent

See also: End-of-lease compensation, Half-life condition, Engine shop visitGuide: Lease return conditions

The maintenance organisation that performs the redelivery check and shop work, approved under Part-145 in the EASA system or certificated as a repair station in the United States. Its slot, work scope and daily status shape the final months of a redelivery.

See also: Redelivery check, Non-routine card, Joint inspection

An inspection of the aircraft and its records carried out for the lessor during the lease, where the lease provides for one. Its findings give an early view of the gaps that will matter at redelivery.

Also known as: Mid-lease inspection

See also: Records audit, Return conditions, Lessor technical representative

The operator's approved list of equipment that may be inoperative at dispatch, with the conditions and time limits that apply. Items deferred under the MEL when the aircraft is returned are normally treated under the lease's deferred defect requirements.

See also: Deferred defect, Finding

A change to the aircraft's design, such as a service bulletin embodiment or a supplemental type certificate. Leases often require operator-specific modifications to be removed before return, or approved and fully documented if they stay.

See also: Supplemental type certificate, Service bulletin, Engineering order

A letter in which the operator states that the aircraft, an engine or a part was not involved in an incident or accident during its operation. It is a contractual or commercial requirement rather than a regulatory one, and the standard incident/accident clearance statement is increasingly used instead.

See also: Incident/accident clearance statement, Back-to-birth traceabilityGuide: Back-to-birth records and LLP traceability at aircraft redelivery

A work card raised during maintenance to record a defect found while performing a scheduled task, together with its rectification. Non-routine cards raised during the redelivery check are a frequent source of new findings and of schedule growth.

See also: Redelivery check, Finding, Dirty fingerprint

A component that stays in service until an inspection or test shows that it no longer meets its standard, rather than being removed at a fixed interval. Components managed through reliability data, known as condition monitoring, are usually listed with on-condition items in status reports.

See also: Hard-time component, Status reports

The list of findings and actions that remain open, with their severity, owner, due date and status, used to run the redelivery day to day. At acceptance, the remaining open items and the treatment agreed for each are usually recorded in writing.

See also: Finding, Closure evidence, Redelivery acceptance certificateGuide: Managing redelivery findings and the open items list (OIL)

A lease under which the lessor keeps ownership and the residual value risk of the aircraft, which returns to the lessor at the end of the term. Return conditions exist to protect that residual value.

See also: Dry lease, Return conditions, Maintenance reserves

An engine shop visit that restores performance, and in particular exhaust gas temperature margin, typically through work on the engine's core modules. Leases and reserve provisions often treat it separately from the replacement of life-limited parts.

Also known as: Performance restoration shop visit

See also: Engine shop visit, EGT margin, Maintenance reserves

A meeting between lessee and lessor, often held six to nine months before return, to agree the schedule, the MRO and work scope, the inspection plan and the records the lessor expects. Many leases require one.

See also: Lessor technical representative, T-minus planning, Records packageGuide: Aircraft redelivery timeline

The review of the aircraft's technical records against the lease and the applicable standards, carried out by the lessor's representative and, ideally beforehand, by the operator itself. It is typically the longest task in a lease return, and the gaps it reveals are raised as findings.

Also known as: Records review

See also: Technical records, Finding, Back-to-birth traceability, Status reportsGuide: Aircraft redelivery checklist

The organised set of technical records delivered to the lessor for review and handed over at return, in the format and order agreed with the lessor. Industry guidance, such as IATA's material on aircraft leases, is often used to structure it.

Also known as: Return records package, Redelivery records

See also: Technical records, Status reports, Records audit

The return of a leased aircraft to the lessor at the end of the lease, including the inspections, records review, rectification and acceptance that precede the handback.

Also known as: Lease return, Handback, Aircraft return

See also: Return conditions, T-minus planning, Redelivery acceptance certificateGuide: Aircraft redelivery checklist

The document signed at return in which the lessor confirms it has taken the aircraft back, usually recording the remaining open items and any agreed exceptions. It ends the lessee's possession, while obligations reserved in it, such as open items or compensation, continue.

Also known as: Return acceptance certificate

See also: Technical acceptance certificate, Open items list, Holdover rent

The maintenance input performed before return to bring the aircraft to the return conditions, often combined with a scheduled airframe check. Its work scope comes from the return conditions, the gap analysis and the findings of earlier inspections.

Also known as: Return check

See also: Joint inspection, C-check, Maintenance, repair and overhaul organisation, Gap analysisGuide: Aircraft redelivery timeline

The authorised release certificate issued by an approved organisation when a part is released after manufacture, maintenance or overhaul: EASA Form 1 in Europe, FAA Form 8130-3 in the United States. Records audits check that installed components carry valid certificates; a dual release carries both EASA and FAA statements where bilateral arrangements allow it.

Also known as: Authorised release certificate, EASA Form 1, FAA 8130-3

See also: Hard-time component, Back-to-birth traceability, Records audit

The approved data behind a structural repair: the structural repair manual for repairs within its limits, or a specific approval from the type certificate holder or another approved design organisation for repairs beyond them. Lessors usually expect each repair's approval data to be traceable in the records and reflected on the damage chart.

Also known as: Repair data

See also: Structural repair manual, Damage chart, Dirty fingerprint

A working list of the lease's return conditions with one line per obligation: the clause, the owner, the due date, the expected evidence and the lessor's status. It turns contract wording into work that can be assigned, tracked and reported.

Also known as: Return conditions matrix, Compliance matrix

See also: Return conditions, Gap analysis, T-minus planningGuide: Lease return conditions

The provisions of the lease, usually set out in a dedicated schedule, that define the condition in which the aircraft, engines, components and records must be returned. They typically cover maintenance status, physical condition, configuration and records, and the compensation that applies where a condition is not met.

Also known as: Redelivery conditions

See also: Requirement matrix, Delivery condition, End-of-lease compensationGuide: Lease return conditions

A document issued by a manufacturer that recommends an inspection, modification or other action. A service bulletin is not mandatory in itself unless an airworthiness directive requires it, but leases often specify the SB status the aircraft must have at return.

See also: Airworthiness directive, Modification, Engineering order

The certified summaries of the aircraft's compliance and life status: AD and SB status, hard-time and on-condition component listings, LLP status sheets and the hours and cycles of the airframe, engines, APU and landing gear. They are the first documents a lessor's records audit examines.

Also known as: Status summaries

See also: Airworthiness directive, LLP status sheet, Records audit, Hard-time component

The manufacturer's manual that defines allowable damage limits and approved standard repairs for the airframe structure. Damage within its limits can be assessed and repaired using the manual; damage beyond them needs specific approved repair data.

See also: Repair approval, Damage chart

The approval of a major change to a type design by a party other than the type certificate holder, for example a cabin or avionics modification. STC modifications embodied during the lease may have to be removed at return, or left in place with the documentation and permissions the next operator needs.

See also: Modification, Layout of passenger accommodation

Scheduling a redelivery relative to the return date, T-0. Milestones are expressed as offsets such as T-365 or T+30, so the whole plan moves consistently when the return date changes.

Also known as: T-minus, Relative dates

See also: Redelivery, Requirement matrix, Pre-redelivery meetingGuide: Aircraft redelivery timeline

The certificate signed at delivery in which the lessee accepts the aircraft's technical condition, often listing discrepancies accepted at that time. Those discrepancies can influence what must be delivered at return, which is why the certificate belongs in the redelivery file.

Also known as: Delivery acceptance certificate

See also: Delivery condition, Redelivery acceptance certificate

The complete set of records demonstrating an aircraft's airworthiness and history: logbooks, status reports, work packages, release certificates, repair and modification data and the traceability of life-limited parts. At redelivery they are audited as closely as the aircraft itself.

Also known as: Aircraft records

See also: Records audit, Records package, Dirty fingerprintGuide: Aircraft redelivery checklist

An action, such as a modification or part replacement, that ends the repetitive inspections required by an airworthiness directive. Some leases require ADs to be terminated, rather than under repetitive inspection, at return.

See also: Airworthiness directive, Service bulletin

The total flight hours and cycles a part or aircraft has accumulated since manufacture. For a life-limited part, cycles since new are compared with the life limit to establish its remaining life.

See also: Time since overhaul and cycles since overhaul, Life-limited part, Cycle

The flight hours and cycles accumulated since a component's last overhaul. Engines are often described in similar terms since their last shop visit, abbreviated TSLSV and CSLSV.

See also: Time since new and cycles since new, Hard-time component, Engine shop visit

The person who owns a redelivery or delivery project end to end, coordinating records, engineering, maintenance, the MRO, the lessor and finance. Airlines, lessors and transition consultancies all rely on the role.

Also known as: Redelivery manager, Lease return manager

See also: Lessor technical representative, T-minus planning, Pre-redelivery meeting

The record of the aircraft's empty weight and centre of gravity, updated after modifications and re-established by weighing when required. It is part of the aircraft documentation checked at return.

See also: Modification, Technical records

A lease in which the lessor provides the aircraft together with crew, maintenance and insurance, usually charged per block hour. Because the lessor keeps operating and maintaining the aircraft, return conditions of the kind found in dry leases do not usually apply.

Also known as: ACMI

See also: Dry lease, Operating lease