Aircraft status, and what makes one unbookable
What each aircraft status means, and the reasons an aircraft stops being available to book.
Last reviewed
Every aircraft carries a status that the schedule reads directly. You never have to remember whether an aircraft is available, the status is worked out from its real maintenance and defect state, and the scheduler applies it without anybody having to keep the two in step.
What each status means
- Serviceable: airworthy and available to book, with no open defect or overdue item.
- Restricted: flyable, but only for some operations. A restriction is not the same as a grounding: an aircraft with an unserviceable DME might be available for circuits and unavailable for an instrument lesson. The scheduler applies that distinction so a restricted aircraft still flies the sorties it safely can.
- Open defect: a defect has been raised that affects availability. Depending on the defect, this grounds or restricts the aircraft.
- In maintenance: the aircraft is with maintenance and not available.
What makes an aircraft unbookable
An aircraft stops being bookable when any of these is true at the time of the flight:
- A maintenance requirement is due or overdue, including one that will fall due before a future booking, because the forecast looks forward.
- A dispatch-blocking defect is open against it.
- An airworthiness document it depends on, such as the ARC, has lapsed.
Note the middle word in each case: it is the dispatch-blocking items that ground the aircraft. Items that only affect projections are surfaced so you can see them coming, but they do not by themselves stop today's flying.
Where the status comes from
The status is not typed in by hand. It is assembled from the due-list, open defects and the aircraft's documents, so it is always current. When maintenance closes a defect with a release, or a check is signed off, the aircraft returns to service and becomes bookable again automatically. See How maintenance due dates affect the schedule.