Navy Maintenance: Improvements Needed in the Aircraft Engine Repair Program

Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Navy's aircraft engine repair program to determine whether: (1) charges for engine repairs were supportable and reasonable; and (2) opportunities existed for reducing labor and materiel costs.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of the Navy	To ensure that corrective actions are fully implemented, the Secretary of the Navy should direct the Commander, NAVAIR, to report on the status of those actions periodically until they are fully implemented. This report should specifically include, but not be limited to, comments on the status of efforts to improve the labor standards program to ensure that labor hour estimates for engine repairs are valid.	Closed – Implemented NAVAIR Instructions 5220.16 and 13023.1 provide policy and guidance to correct shortcomings in the engine repair program workload standards. NAVAIR will provide the Secretary of the Navy with quarterly reports outlining its progress in implementing the instructions. The first progress report was dated February 21, 1991.
Department of the Navy	To ensure that corrective actions are fully implemented, the Secretary of the Navy should direct the Commander, NAVAIR, to report on the status of those actions periodically until they are fully implemented. This report should specifically include, but not be limited to, comments on the status of efforts to improve the accuracy of factors, such as repair frequency and planned efficiency data, used to arrive at the final labor hour estimate charged customers.	Closed – Implemented NAVAIR is submitting quarterly reports outlining its progress in correcting shortcomings in the engine repair program.
Department of the Navy	To ensure that corrective actions are fully implemented, the Secretary of the Navy should direct the Commander, NAVAIR, to report on the status of those actions periodically until they are fully implemented. This report should specifically include, but not be limited to, comments on the status of efforts to consider historical labor hour expenditures in developing labor hour estimates for future years.	Closed – Implemented NAVAIR is submitting quarterly reports outlining its progress in correcting shortcomings in the engine repair program.
Department of the Navy	To ensure that corrective actions are fully implemented, the Secretary of the Navy should direct the Commander, NAVAIR, to report on the status of those actions periodically until they are fully implemented. This report should specifically include, but not be limited to, comments on the status of efforts to ensure that the depots comply with guidance to coordinate development of labor hour estimates for dual-sited engine repairs so that the most efficient repair processes are used at both depots.	Closed – Implemented NAVAIR is submitting quarterly reports outlining its progress in correcting shortcomings in the engine repair program.
Department of the Navy	To ensure that corrective actions are fully implemented, the Secretary of the Navy should direct the Commander, NAVAIR, to report on the status of those actions periodically until they are fully implemented. This report should specifically include, but not be limited to, comments on the status of efforts to implement a material initiative at all depots that limits materiel orders to the maximum quantities of parts required for each engine repair.	Closed – Implemented NAVAIR is submitting quarterly reports outlining its progress in correcting shortcomings in the engine repair program.

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National Defense

Aircraft enginesAircraft maintenanceCost analysisEquipment repairsLabor costsMilitary cost controlNaval aircraftNaval procurementRepair costsTime and materials contracts