We’ve had the privilege of speaking with hundreds of maintenance shops, flight schools, and inspectors across the country about how they run their shop. “This is a circus act every day,” was how one shop owner put it.
A well-oiled operation, one that turns over planes efficiently and safely—while dialing in the paperwork side—is the end goal for most shop owners. How does one begin to think about the balance between regulatory requirements, the maintenance itself, and the business side of things? As one shop owner put it, "Mechanics, we’re wrench guys, although a major part of my time is spent figuring out how to do the paperwork!"
“Mechanics, we’re wrench guys, although a major part of my time is spent figuring out how to do the paperwork!”
Because paperwork is treated like a chore, people forget how it plays into the larger picture: documentation underpins a maintenance philosophy focused on a consistent safety practice.
A consistent safety practice, one driven by repeatable processes and technical prowess, is the bedrock of a “dialed-in” maintenance operation. Three fundamental pillars—regulatory, technical, and business—underpin a maintenance recordkeeping philosophy ensuring nothing rolls out of your shop that isn’t safe, airworthy, legal, and right.
In this piece, we break down these three fundamental pillars into a safety framework applicable to any A&P/IA working on fine-tuning their operation.
As the saying goes, “If we’re going to do maintenance, then we have to make an entry…” Even so, improper maintenance entries—and their omission—are still a common occurrence.
The FARs act as guiderails for us to properly document an aircraft’s maintenance (and preventative mx) history. As we like to point out, the Airworthiness Certificate itself is effective as long as “maintenance, preventative maintenance, and alterations are performed in accordance with Parts 21, 43, and 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations, as appropriate, and the aircraft is registered in the United States.” Note: this is specified directly under 21.181(a)(1).
21.181(a)(1) Standard airworthiness certificates, special airworthiness certificates—primary category, and airworthiness certificates issued for restricted or limited category aircraft are effective as long as the maintenance, preventive maintenance, and alterations are performed in accordance with Parts 43 and 91 of this chapter and the aircraft are registered in the United States.
Every record backs up that evidence of airworthiness and the sign-off itself certifies the airworthiness of the aircraft, stating that it “conforms to its type design and is in a condition for safe operation” Note: this is defined under 3.5(a).
3.5(a) Airworthy means the aircraft conforms to its type design and is in a condition for safe operation.
We often take the FARs as a given, so we thought it would be helpful to breakout the key FAR elements below and what they mean from a regulatory and legal perspective as we expand on the foundational principles governing maintenance and recordkeeping. Beyond the Trinity (Part 21, 43, and 91), Parts 39, 65, 120, 135, and 145 go beyond the basics to define the “edges” of a regulatory framework.
Consistent with our “Three Pillars”, the regulatory side helps guide how we manage, refer to, and track maintenance to provide a clear audit trail. These regulations ensure maintenance records are legally defensible, transparent, traceable, and repeatable.
A&Ps are held to standards set by the FAA (the Mechanical Practical Test Standards) in addition to industry standards and best practices. This is the baseline on which we can bolt-on different accepted procedures related to specific maintenance activities, like inspections.
These accepted procedures are defined by strict, technical documentation for how that maintenance is performed. This ensures repeatability and consistency across the entire GA universe helping underpin aviation safety and compliance.
Sometimes our approved technical data is broad in application, as would be with a Type Certificate or an AD, and sometimes approved technical data can be specific only to one aircraft, such as a field approval. In any case, these sources all coalesce to give us a potential pool of data to do maintenance the right way.
While 43.9 specifically asks us to describe the work performed (or reference to data acceptable to the Administrator), referring to the documentation builds in transparency, defensibility, repeatability, and traceability. Essentially, anyone can read the record and repeat the exact procedure at any time.
Quality standards, such as AS9100, The Air Transport of America’s Specs (ATA Chapters), and FAA Advisory handbooks augment this to provide a holistic, all-encompassing technical “library” for mechanics to have the right data for the right maintenance activity at the right time.
"Regulations tell you WHAT.
Approved/accepted data tells you HOW.
Company procedures tell you WHO and WHEN."
Too often, the regulatory and technical side of things drowns out what many might argue is the most important—the business side. For many, paperwork is just another plate we have to keep spinning in the never-ending “circus act”.
The reality, however, is that proper maintenance recordkeeping can actually become an enabler of process and consistency that can allow your shop to charge more, turnover more aircraft, and reduce labor hours—how is that possible?
It all starts with a repeatable business process from the moment the owner throws you the keys to you putting in the log entry. It has been proven many times over that a consistent, standardized way of doing things will allow you to build in continuous improvement, show customers all the work you’re doing, and reduce inefficiencies in labor hours within your maintenance shop.
Often, the A&Ps/IAs without a clear, standardized process find the paperwork to be a chore, and it ends up getting the shaft, creating unnecessary risk while also cheapening the maintenance work itself. After all, the record is a reflection of the work.
While you don’t necessarily need software to run a shop, there is a strong case to use it given the rise in complexity across GA and helping organize clear workstreams for maintenance functions. As one of our customers attested, “I’ve buried myself in 2 aircraft repair businesses, there’s no instruction book on how to run it.”
"I’ve buried myself in 2 aircraft repair businesses, there’s no instruction book on how to run it."
Process is a safety enabler that underpins a “professionalism” mindset often lost on mechanics (“we’re wrenchers!”) too focused on the technical aspects and not enough on the business side. Ultimately, we see the business side as the third key pillar bolstering the technical and the regulatory, creating one holistic view of safety and compliance.
Running a streamlined maintenance shop with everything in one place—technical data, forms, service docs, log entries, aircraft and customer information—allows shops to produce robust, professional maintenance records that satisfy both the FAA and their discerning customers.
Taken together, the regulatory side, technical side, and business side all coalesce to form a holistic foundational view of safety and maintenance recordkeeping best practices.
To help guide proper maintenance recordkeeping, we created “Five Principles” of proper maintenance to remind us every day how we can make great entries as part of our holistic safety practices.
Did we miss anything? If there’s something you’d like to share with us, please don’t hesitate to reach out here. If you are interested in joining the thousands of other shop owners who have leveraged TBX to improve their shop performance, save time (and money)—take a look at our 10-day free trial here.
© 2025 TBX. All rights reserved.
“TBX” is a trademark of Aviation Data Group.
