Since 2019, HAECO Hong Kong and Cathay Pacific have been engaged in a joint lean exercise whereby teams from both companies work together using lean principles to improve quality, efficiency, available aircraft ground time and cost-effectiveness. All the joint lean projects have been underpinned by programme of digitalisation across the operation. One of the key joint lean projects is the Line Maintenance Transformation. It aims at creating a Hong Kong Line Maintenance Model that employs a collaborative approach to deliver a safe, on-time, and customer-centric operation that meets business requirements, customer expectations and drives business efficiency and productivity through continuous improvement. To date the team has successfully optimised the planning of light checks, created a dedicated Line Maintenance production organisation for Cathay Pacific and established a joint HAECO and Cathay Pacific department called the Centre of Excellence (CoE).

The CoE was established in September 2020 and is responsible for Cathay Pacific line maintenance requirements at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). The CoE includes HAECO and Cathay Pacific specialists working together to secure the best outcomes for the Line Maintenance operation. The three teams under CoE are COE Planning, Operations Support, and Production Planning and Control (PPC).

The formation of the CoE enables the teams to react quickly and effectively to the dynamic nature of operations at HKIA, by streamlining processes to prepare for and carry out planned maintenance and react quickly to inbound defects and AOG situations. To achieve this goal, real-time dashboards are used to create transparency of work performance, while digital tools also provide situational awareness on the day of operations and assist with the planning process. The CoE has developed a check-readiness dashboard that provides instant visibility on manpower, tooling, spare parts and equipment readiness for every maintenance package that the team has planned.

The launch of the CoE has replaced manual processes with digitalisation, giving a greater level of convenience, efficiency and reliability. There are many more digital tools in the pipeline and the implementation of these digital enhancements is central to the successful execution of the LM transformation programme.