Aircraft maintenance is the performance of tasks required to ensure the continuing airworthiness of an aircraft or aircraft part, including overhaul, inspection, replacement, defect rectification, and the embodiment of modifications, compliance with airworthiness directives and repair.
An Airbus A321 from Iberia having its CFM56 changed
Technicians work on a Bombardier airplane in Dallas, Texas.
Field maintenance on a Cessna 172 being conducted from a van used to carry tools and parts
A Panavia Tornado undergoing maintenance
In aviation, airworthiness is the measure of an aircraft's suitability for safe flight. Initial airworthiness is demonstrated by a certificate of airworthiness issued by the civil aviation authority in the state in which the aircraft is registered, and continuing airworthiness is achieved by performing the required maintenance actions.
Blériot XI, civil registration G-AANG. Built in 1909 and operated by the Shuttleworth Collection in the United Kingdom, this is the world's oldest airworthy aircraft