An aircraft on ground event does not get better by moving fast in the wrong direction. The first two hours decide whether the part you get today is the right one, or whether you spend day two undoing day one. Here is a practical order of operations, not a theory of AOG management.
Minute zero: confirm the part number you actually need, not the one on the old part
Before any message goes out to a supplier, confirm the exact part number required, including dash number and any applicable modification status. Pull it from the aircraft maintenance manual or illustrated parts catalog, not from memory, and not from the tag on the part that just failed, because that part may already be a superseded or alternate configuration installed at some earlier point in the aircraft's life. Cross check the part number against the aircraft's actual configuration, tail number, and any applicable service bulletin or modification record. A wrong part number at minute zero costs you the entire two hours and often a full shipping cycle on top of it.
Minute fifteen: pull alternates and superseded part numbers before you call anyone
Most part numbers with any age to them have a superseded chain, and many have approved alternates from a parts manual or manufacturer bulletin. Know this list before you start calling, not after a supplier tells you they do not have the exact number but do have something two revisions back. If you already know which alternates are acceptable for your aircraft's configuration, you can say yes on the spot instead of losing another thirty minutes chasing an engineering answer mid-call. If you do not know, that is the first thing to confirm internally, in parallel with starting to search, not before it.
Minute thirty: decide exchange vs. purchase before you start asking for prices
Exchange programs move faster in many cases because the supplier is shipping from ready stock against your core return commitment, rather than sourcing a part to sell outright. But exchange is not always faster or cheaper, it depends on what is actually on the shelf for that part number at that moment. Decide upfront whether your operation can commit to a core return within the required window, and whether outright purchase is acceptable if it gets you a part sooner. Walking into supplier calls already knowing which commercial models you can accept saves real time, because you are not negotiating structure and technical fit at the same moment.
Minute forty five: handle transport before you lock in price
This is the step that gets skipped most often, and it is usually the actual bottleneck. A part sitting on a shelf two states away does you no good if nobody has arranged how it physically gets to the aircraft. Before you agree on final pricing, confirm: what shipping method gets it there in time, whether that method is actually available at that hour and on that route, who is arranging customs paperwork if the part is crossing a border, and whether the receiving location can accept the shipment outside normal hours. A supplier quoting a great price with a shipping method that cannot realistically make your window has not actually solved your problem.
Minute sixty: put someone on paperwork while someone else keeps sourcing
Once a likely source is identified, the sourcing conversation and the documentation conversation should run in parallel, not one after the other. Confirm what release documentation will actually accompany the part, an 8130-3 or equivalent, a certificate of conformance, and whether that matches what your maintenance program and receiving inspection will accept. If the part is crossing an international border, confirm now who is handling the import side and what documents they need in hand before the shipment departs, not after it lands and sits waiting for paperwork to catch up. Splitting these two threads across two people, one still confirming availability and price, one already lining up documentation and receiving logistics, is a small operational choice that saves real time later, and it costs nothing to do in parallel.
Keep a short written log as you go
AOG calls move fast and involve multiple people, multiple suppliers, and sometimes multiple candidate part numbers at once. A simple running note, timestamped, of who confirmed what, which supplier offered which condition and price, and what was actually agreed, prevents the common failure mode where two people on the same team unknowingly commit to two different suppliers for the same requirement, or where a verbal confirmation from an hour ago gets misremembered under pressure. It does not need to be formal. It needs to exist somewhere everyone involved can see it in real time.
What to put in the first message to a supplier
The first message you send sets how fast the response comes back, and a vague message gets a vague answer. Include, in one message:
- Exact part number and dash number, plus known alternates or superseded numbers you will accept
- Quantity required
- Aircraft type, tail number if relevant, and installation urgency (confirm this is a genuine AOG, not a routine stock replenishment mislabeled as urgent)
- Acceptable condition codes for the application
- Preferred commercial model, exchange, loan, or outright, and whether you can meet a core return window if applicable
- Delivery location, required delivery time, and any constraints on receiving hours
- Whether the shipment needs to cross an international border, and if so, which country
A supplier who gets all of that in the first message can usually give you a real answer in minutes instead of a round of clarifying questions that eats into your window.
What actually slows AOG resolution down
In practice, the delays are rarely about parts not existing. They are about part number ambiguity that takes multiple calls to resolve, commercial terms that get negotiated after a price is already quoted, and transport arrangements that get addressed as an afterthought once the part itself is confirmed. Handling all three in the first two hours, in that order, is what actually shortens ground time. Everything after that is execution.
Have an AOG right now? Visit our AOG support page for direct contact options, or send us the part number, aircraft type, and delivery location and we will start working it immediately.