787 & A350 design philosophy & expected maintenance cost savings, Issue 70 June/July 2010

The 787 & A350 have been designed to be built with a high percentage of composite materials. The aircraft will also replace several hydromechanical system components with electrical ones. These features are intended to eliminate a number of maintenance tasks, and extend the intervals of others with the combined effect of reducing maintenance costs. An insight into the 787’s & A350’s maintenance programmes, and the magnitude of reduction in maintenance requirements is given.