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Airworthiness Directive Compliance Tracking

Airworthiness directive tracking that shows why every tail is in or out, and proves every line of the AD status report

No tail flies past an AD, and every line of the status report is proven.

See one case, screen by screen ↓
demo14of 62 tailsapply after the 737-8 fleet falls through the AD's own paragraphs, each in or out with its quote and record
demo41cyclesleft on the nearest tail when the planner agent found it a slot tonight at DEN, ahead of its due point
demo1credit refusedby the check agent, recomputing blind: an acquired airline's scan was missing its eddy current result sheet
target100%of AD work planned before its due point, every status line linked to signed work
In short

What is Airworthiness Directive Compliance Tracking?

Airworthiness directive tracking software for airlines that goes past a due list: seven agents read each new AD and its service bulletin, decide which tails it applies to with the paragraph and record behind every in and out, plan each due point into a slot and prove compliance from signed work. The AD engineer signs the applicability call, and the AD status report stays current per tail.

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Updated

The problem

Why airworthiness directive tracking still starts with manual work

Airworthiness directive tracking begins with a rule: an AD is issued under 14 CFR Part 39, and no one may operate an aircraft that does not meet an applicable AD. Each new one sends an AD engineer into the directive and the service bulletin it incorporates, to work out tail by tail whether it applies — model and line number, installed part numbers by position, modification status, credit for earlier work — and to turn "within 50 flight cycles after the effective date" or "before accumulating 8,000 total flight cycles" into a due point per tail. That call lives in spreadsheets and in engineers' heads; the M&E system only holds a due list after someone has typed it in.

Then technical records must prove, per tail, that the work was done the way the AD says: the right bulletin revision, every step signed, the result sheets, the parts and the inspector's stamp. A carrier must keep the current status of each applicable AD, with its method of compliance and the next due for a recurring action (14 CFR 121.380), yet the AD status report is rebuilt by hand for every audit. An acquired airline's records arrive as scans in another format, and a credit for earlier work is only as good as the page that proves it. Part 39 compliance is judged tail by tail, and the FAA counts each flight.

typical$75,000maximum civil penalty per violation for a carrier — and the FAA counts each flight
typical44flightsflown out of compliance with one AD, and a $400,000 penalty proposed (FAA, July 2024)
Where one new AD's working days goestimated
By hand6 days
With the solution0.9 days
  • Reading the AD and the bulletin it incorporates1 → 0.1 d
  • The applicability call, tail by tail1.5 → 0.2 d
  • Due points in cycles, hours and calendar, and slots1 → 0.1 d
  • Method of compliance and the engineering order0.5 → 0.2 d
  • Proving compliance from signed task cards1 → 0.2 d
  • Rebuilding the AD status report for an audit1 → 0.1 d

Estimated split for one structural AD on a single-type fleet of about 60 aircraft, by hand and with the solution.

How it works

How a new AD moves

Seven agents read each AD, sieve the fleet through its paragraphs, check each other and prove compliance from signed work; the AD engineer signs the call.

What comes in
Sources inFAA · EASA · ADs, bulletins, configuration, cycles, signed work
Agents at work
AD watch agentfinds every new AD
AD reader agentparagraphs + bulletin
Then
Applicability agentthe fleet sieve
Check agentrecomputes blind
Then
Planner agentdue point to slot
Then
Proof agentchecks signed work
Report agentlive status report
A person decides
AD engineersigns the applicability call with a reason code
What comes out
Applicability per tail, quoted
Slots before every due point
Signed AD status report
One case, step by step

Airworthiness directive tracking, one AD at a time: from the Federal Register to a signed status line

Thursday, October 15, 2026, 07:40 at DEN. Corvane Airways flies 300 aircraft, and AD 2026-19-07 — cracking at the forward end of the slat main tracks on 737-8 airplanes, effective on publication — needs an AD engineer's signature today. Here is what happens next, screen by screen, in the working solution.

  1. 0107:40

    A morning briefing, and a question in plain words

    Dana Whitfield · Airworthiness Directive Engineer (structures)

    Dana's Today screen shows 3 new ADs this week, 1 call waiting for her, 4 tails due within 50 cycles and 9 recurring inspections in 30 days. The applicability agent's briefing says one AD needs her signature: 14 of 62 tails apply, four inside 50 cycles, and the check agent agrees after one correction. She asks whether N834CV is legal to fly tonight.

    Applicability agent: “Yes. It has 41 cycles left on AD 2026-19-07 and no other AD item open past due; its status report shows 74 applicable ADs, all within limits.”

  2. 02Tuesday 06:02

    The AD found, read and quoted with its bulletin

    AD watch agent and AD reader agent

    The watch agent found AD 2026-19-07 in the Federal Register and fetched Alert Requirements Bulletin 737-57A1442 RB; it filtered AD 2026-19-05 because the fleet has no 737-7s. The reader agent extracted paragraphs (a) to (l) and Parts 1 to 3 of the bulletin, and wrote the plain summary with 9 quotes: what is unsafe, what to do, by when — (g)(1) within 50 cycles for airplanes at 7,500 cycles or more, (g)(2) before 8,000 cycles for the rest, repeat every 1,500 — and what ends it, replacing all eight tracks with P/N 311A1856-9.

    The AD reader agent never paraphrases a compliance time without the quote.

  3. 03The sieve

    The fleet falls through the AD's own paragraphs

    Applicability agent

    Each applicability paragraph becomes a sieve, quoted in the AD's words. ¶(c) takes 300 aircraft to 62 737-8s; ¶(c)(1), line numbers 7212 through 8460, stops 24; ¶(c)(2), a slat main track P/N 311A1856-3 or -5 installed at slats 2 to 5, stops 16 that already carry -9 tracks; ¶(k), credit for an inspection under the August alert bulletin, stops 8 that still get the 1,500-cycle repeat. Fourteen come through, ordered by cycles left — thirteen on the first pass, and one more after the check agent refused a credit.

  4. 04One click

    Why N835CV is out — and why it is her call

    Dana Whitfield · AD engineer

    Any tail opens to show why it is in or out. N835CV stopped at ¶(c)(2): seven tracks are -9, but slat 3L carries a -7 from a 2024 repair, a dash number the AD does not list. The agent's confidence is 0.71, below the 0.85 threshold, so it does not decide. It suggests moving the tail in until the part is checked on the aircraft; Dana can move it in with a reason.

    The applicability agent never decides a tail below confidence 0.85, and never removes a tail without a record.

  5. 05Wednesday 18:20

    A second agent recomputes blind and refuses one credit

    Check agent and report agent

    The check agent recomputed the call from the raw records without seeing the first answer. It agreed on 61 of 62 tails and refused the ¶(k) credit for N858CV, a Halvard Air tail: the scanned pack has 6 pages and the task card refers to a result sheet on page 7. Under rule R4 there is no credit without it, so N858CV moved into the tails that apply, due at 8,000 cycles with 3,380 left. The report agent drafted the records request, and an AMOC request for N829CV's repaired slat 4R track under ¶(l)(3).

    Check agent: “Without it there is no credit (rule R4); N858CV is due at 8,000 cycles anyway — 3,380 left — so nothing is at risk while we look.”

  6. 06Asked in the thread

    “What if we replace every track with -9 now?”

    Planner agent

    Dana weighs the terminating action against repeat inspections. The planner agent answers in the thread: replacement ends the repeats but takes 46 labor hours per airplane, and DEN stores hold 12 tracks — one and a half airplanes. It proposes the -9 replacement at the three C-checks already planned, N837CV, N839CV and N842CV, and the inspection for the rest.

  7. 07Signed

    She approves the applicability call with a reason code

    Dana Whitfield · AD engineer

    Approving takes a reason code — A1 call confirmed as proposed, A2 confirmed with a tail moved in, A3 confirmed with a tail moved out, or X1 send back to the agents — an optional note for the record, and her e-signature. She signs A1: 14 of 62 737-8s apply, 48 are out, each with the paragraph and the record that stopped it.

    “I approve the applicability call for AD 2026-19-07 as Dana Whitfield, AD Engineer — e-signature, Thu, Oct 15, 2026 07:42.”

  8. 08Tonight at DEN

    A due point per tail, and a slot that beats it

    Planner agent and Elena Kowalski · Maintenance planner

    N834CV has 7,977 of 8,018 cycles at 4.6 a day, so it reaches its limit around Oct 24; its next DEN overnight with a hangar after tonight is Oct 26 — two days too late. The planner agent proposes tonight, Hangar 4, 22:30 to 04:30: 6.5 labor hours, with the HFEC kit and two Level II technicians free. The plan shows 4 tails inside 50 cycles, 3 to replace with -9, 209.5 labor hours and engineering order EO-26-0412. Elena accepts the slot and the work package goes to the night shift.

    The planner agent never books a slot or orders parts; the planner accepts.

  9. 0902:10

    Signed work comes back and is checked against the AD

    Proof agent and Jordan Pike · Technical records

    DEN line maintenance signs WO-26-77310: 8 of 8 tracks at slats 2 to 5 inspected, no cracks, the HFEC result sheet attached, inspector stamp DEN-114 at 7,981 cycles. The proof agent checks method, bulletin revision, steps, results and stamp against ¶(g)(1) and proposes closure. Jordan Pike confirms compliance, and the next inspection is set at 9,481 cycles.

    The proof agent never closes an item with a missing page and never edits a record.

  10. 10Version 216

    The AD status report is current, line by line

    Report agent and Marcus Bell · Director of Quality

    The report agent regenerated the AD status report: AD 2026-19-07 added to 14 tails, N834CV complied, repeat at 9,481 cycles. N834CV's report lists each applicable AD with its amendment, method of compliance, date complied and next action due, each line linked to its evidence. Version 216 waits for Marcus Bell's signature; the report exports as a PDF or CSV for the FAA inspector.

    The report agent never signs or sends anything to the FAA.

Who it’s for

Built for everyone who signs an AD off.

The same airworthiness directive, seen by the four people who carry it — what their week looked like, and what it looks like now.

DW
Dana WhitfieldAirworthiness Directive Engineer (structures) · signs the applicability call
Airworthiness directive engineer
Before
Reads every new AD and its bulletin, then decides tail by tail in a spreadsheet: “Show me why each tail is in or out, with the paragraph — I sign the call, not the spreadsheet.”
Now
Opens a sieve built from the AD's own paragraphs, with the record and confidence behind every tail, decides the one call below 0.85 and signs with a reason code.
EK
Elena KowalskiMaintenance Planner, DEN · accepts every slot
Maintenance planner
Before
Fits AD work into overnights and checks without grounding a jet: “Give me the due point in cycles and the slot that beats it.”
Now
Gets each tail's due point in cycles, hours and calendar with the limiting one marked, and a proposed slot with labor, tooling and technicians checked, to accept or change.
JP
Jordan PikeTechnical Records Specialist · confirms every closure
Technical records specialist
Before
Checks signed task cards and chases missing pages from the acquired airline's archive: “A task card without the eddy current sheet is not compliance.”
Now
Sees each signed work order already checked for method, revision, steps, results, parts and stamp, confirms or rejects it with a reason, and sends records requests drafted for him.
MB
Marcus BellDirector of Quality / Continuing Airworthiness · signs the status report and every AMOC
Director of Quality
Before
Answers to the principal maintenance inspector: “When the inspector asks for a tail, I want the record, not a promise.”
Now
Signs a versioned AD status report in which every line links to its evidence, and signs AMOC requests the report agent has drafted with the facts and the proposed method.
Built on the engine

7 agents. Each with one job, and hard limits.

Seven agents read each AD, sieve the fleet through its paragraphs, check each other and prove compliance from signed work; the AD engineer signs the call.

AD watch agent

Watches the FAA's AD feed and the Federal Register every 30 minutes, EASA ADs daily and emergency ADs the moment they are sent; fetches the bulletins an AD incorporates and filters by type certificate.

  • Never discards an AD for a fleet type without logging why
AD reader agent

Reads the AD and its bulletins and extracts applicability, actions, compliance times, credit, terminating action and AMOC terms, paragraph by paragraph; writes the plain summary with quotes.

  • Never paraphrases a compliance time without the quote
Applicability agent

Builds a sieve from each applicability paragraph and runs the fleet through it with configuration, installed part numbers, modification status and work history, giving a confidence per tail.

  • Never decides a tail below confidence 0.85
  • Never removes a tail without a record
Check agent

Recomputes applicability, credit and due points from the raw records without seeing the first answer; any difference blocks the call until a person settles it.

  • Never sees the first answer before it finishes
  • Any difference blocks the call
Planner agent

Turns compliance times into cycles, hours and dates per tail at live utilization, finds the slot that beats each due point, checks labor, tooling and parts, and drafts the engineering order.

  • Never books a slot or orders parts — the planner accepts
Proof agent

Reads signed task cards that cite an AD; checks the method, bulletin revision, every step, results, parts and the inspector's stamp; proposes closure and sets the next repeat.

  • Never closes an item with a missing page
  • Never edits a maintenance record
Report agent

Keeps the 14 CFR 121.380 AD status report per tail live and versioned, and drafts AMOC requests, records requests and comments on proposed rules.

  • Never signs or sends anything to the FAA
AD engineer

Signs every call; the planner accepts slots; records confirm proof; the Director of Quality signs the report. The agents propose; a named person decides.

Ask in plain words

Ask about any AD, tail or task card, in plain words

Every screen has the agents beside it. Ask a question or tell them what to do; answers cite their source, and nothing is approved, sent or booked until a person says so.

Why is N835CV out?

¶(c)(2) covers tracks -3 and -5. N835CV's slat 3L carries -7 from repair R-24-1187; the other seven are -9. The -7 is not listed, so the sieve stops it — but at 0.71 confidence, so the call is yours.

Why tonight for N834CV and not Oct 26?

At 4.6 cycles a day N834CV reaches its 8,018-cycle limit around Oct 24; its next DEN overnight with a hangar after tonight is Oct 26 — two days too late. Tonight it arrives 21:48 as CV1182 and leaves 06:15 as CV407, so the 6.5-hour job fits.

Why not close WO-26-74988? The work was done.

The task card follows SB A321-52-1209 Revision 01; AD 2026-19-03 requires Revision 02, which changed the step 9 torque. Work done to the wrong revision is not compliance. N416CV still has 2,300 flight hours before its due point, so SEA can re-do step 9 at the next overnight.

Does a repaired track change anything?

Yes. ¶(l) says a repaired slat main track needs an approved AMOC before the (g) time. N829CV has a blend-repaired track at slat 4R; the report agent drafted the AMOC request for Marcus Bell.

Every screen

The working solution, as it ships.

13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.

Today, with the agents' briefingThe AD engineer's morning: new ADs, calls waiting, tails due within 50 cycles and recurring inspections, with the agents answering whether a tail is legal to fly tonight.
The AD readerThe airworthiness directive with paragraph markers and highlighted applicability text, beside the requirements extracted paragraph by paragraph from the AD and its service bulletin.
The AD applicability sieveThe AD in plain words — what is unsafe, what to do, by when, what ends it — and the fleet's tails falling through each quoted applicability paragraph, with the agents' thread beside it.
Why a tail is in or outOne tail's applicability: the paragraph that stopped it, the installed part number, the agent's confidence below the threshold, and Move in for the engineer.
Asking the agentsThe tails that apply ordered by cycles left, with due dates and proposed slots, and the planner agent's answer on replacing every track to end the recurring inspections.
Approving the applicability callReason codes A1, A2, A3 and X1, a note for the record and the AD engineer's e-signature on the applicability call.
The call signedThe signed applicability call, the planner's accepted slot for tonight and every other slot sent to the maintenance planner.
The compliance planDue points per tail in cycles, hours and calendar, the method of compliance, the proposed slot with labor and tooling, and the engineering order.
Proof of complianceA signed work order checked against the AD — method, bulletin revision, steps, results and inspector's stamp — confirmed by technical records, with the next recurring inspection due set.
The AD status reportThe 14 CFR 121.380 AD status report for one tail: each AD with its amendment, method of compliance, date complied, next action due and evidence link.
Exceptions: AMOCs and records gapsAn AMOC request drafted for a repaired part, a records gap in an acquired airline's scan, an engine AD revision and a disagreement between agents, each with the person who decides.
The audit trailThe audit trail filtered to people's decisions — the applicability call, the accepted slot, the signed work and the records confirmation, each with its reason code, chained entry to entry and exportable for the FAA.
Rules and thresholdsThe confidence threshold, due-soon alerts, blind recomputation, result-sheet credit, four eyes on moving a tail out and status report re-signing.
Governance

Built for AD compliance tracking: quoted, signed, on the record.

Every in and out is quotedEach sieve quotes the AD paragraph it comes from, and every tail it stops shows the record and the reason. Every value an agent states links to its source: the AD paragraph, the bulletin page, the configuration record, the work order or the scanned page.
Two answers must agreeThe check agent recomputes every applicability call blind from the raw records. Any difference blocks the signature until a person settles it with a record (rule R1), and moving a tail out also needs a second engineer (rule R6).
A named person signs each stepThe AD engineer signs the applicability call, the maintenance planner accepts every slot, technical records confirms every closure, and the Director of Quality signs the status report and every AMOC request — each with a reason code and an e-signature.
Uncertain calls come to the engineerBelow confidence 0.85 the applicability agent asks the engineer instead of deciding, and a credit for earlier work needs the result sheet, not the task card alone (rule R4).
What the agents may not doThey never approve applicability, move a tail out without a record and a person, book slots, order parts, close an item with a missing page, edit a maintenance record, or sign or send anything to the FAA.
A chained audit trailEvery agent step and every person's decision is recorded newest first, each entry chained to the one before it so nothing can be changed unseen, and the trail exports for the FAA.
Configuration

Your continuing airworthiness rules, not ours

The rules every AD is checked against are settings. Changes are proposed and need the Director of Quality's approval with a reason code.

SettingDefaultChoose from
R1 · The check agent must agree before a call can be signedOnOn · Off
R2 · Confidence below which the engineer decides0.85A number you set; confidence is scored per tail, per AD
R3 · Due-soon alert50 cycles · 100 hours · 14 days, whichever firstCycles, hours and days set separately
R4 · Credit for previous actions needs the result sheetOnOn · Off
R5 · Re-sign the status reportAfter any changeAfter any change · Daily · Monthly
R6 · Four eyes on moving a tail outOnOn · Off
Who signs applicability callsAD engineers; powerplant engineers for engine and propeller ADsSet by role; the administrator cannot sign compliance
Connections

Works with the systems your AD/SB management already runs on

FAA AD feed and Federal Registerfinal rules, emergency ADs and proposed rules, with EASA ADs the FAA adopts
M&E systemwork orders, task cards and engineering orders, written as drafts only
Configuration recordsinstalled part numbers and serials per position, nightly and on change
Flight hours and cycles feedevery leg, from the aircraft and the movement messages
Maintenance planning, stores and toolingovernights, hangar slots, checks, parts on hand, kits and technicians' authorizations
Records libraryscanned records, including an acquired airline's archive
What it changes

The difference, in numbers.

Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.

target
0
tails flown past an applicable AD
41 cycles to spare
N834CV inspected tonight at DEN
typical
$75K
maximum FAA penalty per violation, and every flight counts
44 flights out of compliance$400,000 proposed
With every AD proven$0
target
100%
of AD work planned into overnights and checks, so no aircraft is grounded for an overdue AD

“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample fleet data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate · “typical” = published figures (49 U.S.C. 46301(a)(1), $75,000 per violation, DOT final rule Dec 30, 2024; FAA newsroom, proposed $400,000 penalty for 44 flights out of compliance with an AD, July 2024). Rules named: 14 CFR Part 39 (including 39.19) and 14 CFR 121.380. Corvane Airways, Halvard Air, AD 2026-19-07 and its bulletin, tails, work orders and the people named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.

Questions

What maintenance and engineering teams ask us.

What is Airworthiness Directive Compliance Tracking?

Airworthiness directive tracking software for airlines that goes past a due list: seven agents read each new AD and its service bulletin, decide which tails it applies to with the paragraph and record behind every in and out, plan each due point into a slot and prove compliance from signed work. The AD engineer signs the applicability call, and the AD status report stays current per tail.

How do you determine whether an AD applies to an aircraft?

The applicability agent turns each applicability paragraph — model and line or serial numbers, installed part numbers, modification status, credit for earlier work — into a sieve and runs the fleet through it with configuration and work history. Every tail stopped shows the quote, the record and a confidence; below 0.85 the engineer decides. A check agent recomputes the call blind, and any difference blocks the signature.

What must an AD status report include under 14 CFR 121.380?

The current status of each applicable AD, including the method of compliance and, for a recurring action, when it is next due. Here the report agent keeps that AD status report per tail, with each line linked to its evidence; it regenerates on every change, is versioned, and the Director of Quality signs it before it is exported as a PDF or CSV.

How are recurring AD inspections tracked?

When technical records confirms a closure, the proof agent sets the next due from the inspection — in the demo, 7,981 cycles plus the 1,500-cycle repeat makes 9,481. All recurring AD actions show on one list by cycles, hours or calendar, ready to bundle into a check.

Can it prepare an alternative method of compliance (AMOC) request?

Yes. When an AD requires an alternative method of compliance — in the demo, a repaired slat track under ¶(l)(3) — the report agent drafts the request under 14 CFR 39.19 with the facts, the repair data and the proposed method. The Director of Quality edits, signs and sends it; the agent never sends to the FAA.

Does it work with records from an airline we acquired?

Its records library indexes scanned records, including an acquired airline's archive. A credit for earlier work is given only with the result sheet, so a missing page becomes a records gap with a drafted request, and the tail stays in the AD until the page is found.

Do engineers and quality stay in control?

Yes. The agents propose, quote and ask; they never approve applicability, book slots, order parts, close an item with a missing page, edit a record or sign anything. The AD engineer signs the call, the planner accepts slots, records confirms closures and the Director of Quality signs the report, each with a reason code and e-signature on a chained audit trail.

How long does it take to go live?

The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents — your AD procedures, fleet configuration, M&E system and a sample of past ADs and signed work — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on one of your own recent ADs.

See it on
your fleet's ADs.

We'll run Airworthiness Directive Compliance Tracking on one of your recent ADs and your own fleet configuration.