A new role in MAF International is working to optimise the use of our aircraft across all programmes to increase our service to the remote areas.
Story by Tajs Jespersen
Mark Newnham is embarking into a world of opportunity as he is MAF International’s first Manager of Continued Airworthiness.
His role is part of the Technical Operations team, whose goal is enabling proactive fleet management and maintenance to maximise availability of aircraft for mission. What drives the team is knowing that serving together to bring help, hope and healing through aviation isn’t possible when an aircraft is in a hangar.
Based in the MAF Kenya programme, Mark now interacts with all maintenance control teams across MAF International (MAFI) which was the reason for his recent visit to PNG.
The more we can simplify our processes, then at the end of the day it makes our aircraft more available to the people that we serve.
“The role that I'm doing is about looking at how we do things. If we can align how we carry our maintenance control across all the MAFI programmes then that would be the ideal world,” said Mark. “Also being able to have an overview of all the aircraft in order to learn from operational and maintenance experiences and then adapt our maintenance program accordingly is invaluable.”
Maintenance control is an important part of the operations of a MAF programme. They are the link between the operations department and the maintenance facility. They have the overview of each aircraft and when they need to go to the engineers for maintenance.
“Take the Caravan for example. It was originally designed as a cargo aircraft to fly around the US,” said Mark. “We use it very differently here in PNG and even though it’s a robust aircraft, the harsh landing strips take their toll.
The challenging terrain in PNG makes maintenance controllers even more important to the operations. Mark realises that his new role has great potential to help maximise the availability of our aircraft and through that, maximising our service to the isolated. Not just in PNG but in all of the MAFI programmes.
“The more we can harmonise and the more we can simplify our processes, then at the end of the day it makes our aircraft more available to the people that we serve,” said Mark.
Director of Technical Operations Phil Sproul affirms the importance of the engineering work that is essential to MAF's mission.
"Our team of engineers working across all our programmes are driven by the same calling to serve people through aviation. Although most of their efforts take place in the hangar, our greatest joy is seeing aircraft ready to take off again to have impact in the nations where we operate," Phil said.