Airbus Service Bulletin : user guide for Operators

Reference: 00.00.00198 Issue date: 05-APR-2024 Last check date: 05-APR-2024 Status: Open
A/C type/serie: A300, A300-600, A310, A318, A319, ... ATA: 00-00
Engine manufacturer: Supplier:
Purpose / Reason for revision: Update linked to S1000D
Engineering Support Status: Open
Applicability:

All Airbus Service Bulletins, all In-Service civilian Airbus aircraft programs except A220 Aircraft and
Airbus Military Aircraft classified green aircraft, all ATA.
Contents
1. SB PRINCIPLES 3

1.1 CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT GENERAL INFORMATION 3

1.2 SB DEFINITION 4

1.3 SB NUMBERING 5

2. SB CONTENT 6

2.1 SB SUMMARY: MODIFICATIONS / REASON / EVALUATION TABLE / MANPOWER 6

2.2 SB COMPLIANCE CLASSIFICATION 8

2.3 SB COMPLIANCE LEADTIME AND ACCOMPLISHMENT TIMESCALE 9

2.4 SB APPLICABILITY 10

2.5 SB CONFIGURATION DEFINITION 12

2.6 SB CONCURRENT REQUIREMENTS 13

2.7 PUBLICATION AFFECTED 14

2.8 MATERIAL INFORMATION 16

2.9 SB ACCOMPLISHMENT INSTRUCTIONS: GENERAL INFORMATION 20

2.10 SB MANPOWER & GANTT CHART 24

2.11 SB REVISION: REVISION TRANSMITTAL SHEET (RTS) 25

3. ISI ARTICLES LINKED TO SB ACTIVITIES 27

1. SB PRINCIPLES

1.1 CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT GENERAL INFORMATION

Configuration management provides the framework to control and follow-up A/C and associated data
during its entire life-cycle. Airbus Change Process manages aircraft configuration by means of
Modifications (MOD).

Alteration of any of the data included within the scope of EASA Part 21.A.31 is considered a Change to
the Type Certificate. Within Airbus, in most cases, changes to the Type Certificate are managed by the
change process / modification system for which changes shall be classified for substantiality and
significance. In particular, classification of changes to Type Certificate into Major or Minor changes is
required to determine the approval route to be followed.
According to Part 21.A.91,
• A Minor change is one that has no appreciable effect on the mass, balance, structural strength,
reliability, operational characteristics, noise, fuel venting, exhaust emission or other characteristics
affecting the airworthiness of the product.
• All other changes are "Major Changes".

Any Change item will be followed through a harmonized process, starting with the Change Request (CR)
to record pieces of information (technical or industrial) regarding the proposed change, then covered by
one or several Modification Proposals (MP) that, if accepted, will lead to one or several Modifications
(MOD) having their own applicability (aircraft level).
• MP : proposal of a definition of an aircraft or any changes to the design (when accepted it
becomes a modification)
• Mod : reference used by Airbus to control a change to the definition of an aircraft or equipment
whose introduction affects Airworthiness, Certification, operation serviceability , customer or
Airbus contractual /financial considerations

For modifications, the following sequences are allocated:

Aircraft Programme 5 digits modification 6 digits modification
number range number range
A300/A310/A300-600 00 000 to 18 999 N/A
A300-600ST 19 000 to 19 999 N/A
A318/A319/A320/A321 20 000 to 39 999 150 000 to 199 999
A330/A340 40 000 to 59 999 200 000 to 249 999
A380 60 000 to 79 999 250 000 to 299 999
A350 N/A 100 000 to 149 999
At time of aircraft delivery, the modification status of each aircraft MSN is communicated to the
operator through the AIR (Aircraft Inspection Report) which delivers recorded technical configuration
“as built”. After delivery, modifications to the aircraft configuration are possible and can be introduced
via Airbus Service Bulletin covering modifications declared valid for implementation in-service.
1.2 SB DEFINITION

“An SB is an airworthiness approved document created to implement a change to the type design of, or an
inspection to, a delivered aircraft either to maintain its level of safety, or to improve its operation”

• SB shall provide enough information to help the airline taking the decision of carrying out or not
the SB.
• SB shall detail the sequence of all the tasks (or provide a simple modification format with a set of
design drawings) and material needed to accomplish the whole modification/inspection on the
aircraft.
• SB comply with ATA iSpec 2200 “Information Standard for Aviation Maintenance” or S1000D

Aircraft Modification Stack-up principle:

• The A/C recorded configuration only changes when an SB is embodied, thereby ensuring
the update of the operational and maintenance documentation

• SB reporting vehicles the new aircraft configuration

1.3 SB NUMBERING

Refer to ISI 00.70.00010

In addition, SB that will be produced for A320 & A330 family for NEO standard will keep the current
numbering (i.e. letter “1” for A320 family SBs and letter “3” for A330 family SBs)
2. SB CONTENT

2.1 SB SUMMARY: MODIFICATIONS / REASON / EVALUATION TABLE / MANPOWER

Each Service bulletin starts with a Summary Sheet:

This summary sheet lists, in the case of a MOD Service Bulletin, all MODs that will be applied with SB,
associated to their classification (Minor or Major):

This summary sheet informs about all reasons for this SB publication:
And then this summary sheet proposes a General Evaluation table that summarized the main technical
information and advantages for this SB:
2.2 SB COMPLIANCE CLASSIFICATION

Refer to ISI 00.00.00109.

Each Service Bulletin is allocated with a compliance classification, there are 4 possible compliances:

“MANDATORY”

This category is allocated if the accomplishment is or will be rendered mandatory through an

Airworthiness Directive or coming Airworthiness Directive issued by the EASA to ensure adequate safety
level in accordance with JAR39.
The timescale/limitation c o n t a i n e d in the relevant (or expected) Airworthiness Directive is referenced
u n d e r “Accomplishment Timescale” within the “COMPLIANCE” chapter.

“RECOMMENDED”

This category covers major enhancements regarding aircraft operation:

 Operation: modifications which significantly improve the level of airworthiness compliance
regarding combined failure modes/system issues identified during aircraft operation.
 Maintenance : modifications which provide terminating action on disruptive inspections,
mandatory or otherwise; or prevent costly repairs
Airbus strongly encourages that operators/owners accomplish the Service Bulletins in this category in
accordance with the recommended timescale so as to upgrade the affected aircraft to the latest available
standard.

“DESIRABLE”

This category is allocated if the Service Bulletin offers improvements in terms of dispatch reliability,
maintenance cost, maintenance programme reduction, operational benefits, crew/passenger comfort
or regulated environmental nuisance.
This Accomplishment Timescale is left to the Operator’s entire decision.

“OPTIONAL”

This c a t e g o r y is allocated if the Service Bulletin has been developed on a specific operator/owner
request.
The Accomplishment Timescale is left to Operator’s own decision.
2.3 SB COMPLIANCE LEADTIME AND ACCOMPLISHMENT TIMESCALE

For SB covered or to be covered by an AD (Airworthiness Directive), SB is written under “AD friendly”

guidelines: The AD friendly initiative is the result of collaboration between the FAA transport directorate
and the EASA to improve the readability of mandated Service Bulletins (as well as ADs).

Accomplishment timescale is provided under a standard table template:

Each step or elementary action is allocated with a dedicated compliance time so as to secure the global
safety compliance request listed within associated AD.
2.4 SB APPLICABILITY

Modification SB applicability:

Applicability is a list of MSN to which the SB applies; it defines the eligibility for a set of aircraft MSN
and depends on the configuration “As known” before the SB application with:
 first, the list of MODs already embodied at production (and reported in AIR),
 second, the MODs embodied though previous SB
 third, the repairs proposed by Airbus.

Some additional information on applicability are detailed in dedicated Notes within APPLICABILITY
chapter :

Inspection SB applicability:

SB applicability is defined by Airbus support engineering and Design Office analysis taking into account:

 Aircraft configuration status: when all MSN’s in a given configuration are affected
 Quality records : to retrieve a batch of SN’s for given PN’s
 In-service fleet: Inspection criteria associated to aircraft utilization (FH / FC)
 Specific conditions

Inspection SB may be regularly revised to extend applicability when no terminating action is yet available.

Upgrade SB applicability:

SB applicability for upgrade SBs are defined based on dedicated Operator request trough RFC/RMO
process.
Mod SB applicability with an example :

Set of aircraft with corresponding Manufacturer Serial Number (MSN) on which the SB can potentially be
applied. The applicability should include all aircraft that are, or that can be in the pre-SB configuration.
- Mod 1 introduces, in production from MSN 0200, a change from PN A to PN B.
- SB 1 allows retrofitting Mod 1 on A/C MSN 0001 to 0199, to replace PN A by PN B.
- Mod 2 introduces, in production from MSN 0400, a change from PN B to PN C.
- SB 2 allows retrofitting Mod 2 on A/C MSN 0001 to 0399, with SB1 as a concurrent requirement
for A/C MSN 0001 to 0199.

Remark: MSCN rejection case

At the time of SB2 dispatch, MSN 0600 was foreseen having Mod 2 already embodied, then MSN 0600 is
not part of SB2 applicability. Standard SB will not be revised to include this MSN 0600 to cover operator
MSCN rejection decision: upgrade SB will be necessary to revert back on this decision. Refer to ISI
00.00.00043.
2.5 SB CONFIGURATION DEFINITION

The configuration defines the technical solution to modify or inspect a specific set of aircraft using a
customized set of material and accomplishment instructions.
A Service Bulletin can contain several configurations depending on the different technical solutions.

A definition is provided for each configuration, based on defined criteria:

- Aircraft configuration management (Mod/SB)
- Aircraft standard
- Engine type…

MSN may be allocated to more than one Configuration when, at time of SB authoring, the reported
status of other SB(s) imply that the applicable Configuration could change between the SB dispatch and
the SB embodiment; or more generally, when Airbus is not in position to determine what will be the
applicable Configuration at time of SB embodiment.

In that case, Operators need to use configuration definition to determine the applicable configuration,
the SB is self-sufficient.
Remark: BY NOT REPORTING PREVIOUS SB EMBODIMENT, THAT MAY LEADS AIRBUS TO CONSIDER
SEVERAL POTENTIAL CONFIGURATIONS THAT ARE NOT NECESSARY, OR TO SPLIT THE SBs LETTING
THE AIRLINE TO CHOOSE THE CORRECT ONE.
2.6 SB CONCURRENT REQUIREMENTS

Concurrent requirement defines the necessary conditions for the SB applicability

Concurrent requirement ensures that the certified Mod stacking is fulfilled

SB concurrent requirements must be performed before or at the same time of the current SB, unless
corresponding MOD has been already introduced in production or through another SB.

2.7 PUBLICATION AFFECTED

All publications that will be updated after the SB embodiment are listed in a dedicated table as a result
of the SB reporting by operators.

An updated and robust SB reporting ensures that all operational & maintenance documentations are
updated as and when SB’s are embodied. (Refer to ISI 00.00.00135)
MATERIAL INFORMATION

There are eleven different types of MATSET which can be used in the SB and created according to
specific requirements. The MATSET types are defined as follows:

Inside the SB body, they are identified as follows:

KIT:

FLS
BFE:

CML:

REID:

TOOL:

SPTL:

COMP:
 As KIT Price evolves after SB issuance, operators need to contact Airbus to get the appropriate price at
the time of SB embodiment decision.
 Availability dates for KIT (to be anticipated when long lead time are mentioned)

 COMPonents are different from a KIT. Components shall be procured via individual Purchase Order.
Operators can pick up and order exactly what they need, whereas a KIT is a set of material
 When there is a Life limit, the part is provided as a component, and not in a kit
LIST OF EXISTING PARTS

This chapter indicates the way the IPC (Illustrated Parts Catalogue) / IPD will be updated after the SB
reporting. It provides detailed information on interchangeability and mixability conditions through
dedicated Notes. Interchangeability/mixability conditions are directly defined by Airbus design office
within each Airbus Mod and are thus reflected inside Airbus SB and IPC/IPD.

SPARE PARTS

This chapter provides the list of removed or modified parts (old Part Numbers) which are no longer
considered as a spare for aircraft which have accomplished the Service Bulletin.
A sentence is put after the list of parts to clarify the meaning of “spares” paragraph in the Service
Bulletins.
2.8 SB ACCOMPLISHMENT INSTRUCTIONS: GENERAL INFORMATION

Refer to ISI 00.00.00136.

SB accomplishment instructions: one or several TASK SET (refer to SB chapter DESCRIPTION) can be
proposed for full SB accomplishment:
• Alternate ways to accomplish the SB (sometimes depending of some options already installed on
the MSN)
• Separate Inspection and Repair tasks
• Evaluation & restoration tasks
• TASK SET always contains the same structure (associated information, preparation, procedure,
preparation for test, test, close-up, administrative)

SB accomplishment: each TASK SET is made of one or several TASKS customized by configuration
• Accommodate to Customers' shift work
• Instructions provided in 4h subtasks
• Arranged by skills
• Hyperlinks all along the document

Mod or Inspection Airbus SB: Actions to be performed on A/C only

• Fully described inside Airbus SB (access, AMM task, test, close-up)

Couple Mod (or Inspection) Airbus SB & Vendor SB:

• Referenced from Airbus SB (access, AMM task, test, close-up) for action to be performed on
A/C
• Technical content inside VSB (Vendor Service Bulletin) for action to be performed on
equipment

SB Task Numbering:
Refer to ISI 00.00.00161

With S1000D, there is a new identification to be in line with all Technical Data.
S1000D standard follows a new way to identify the instructions with one unique ID.
SB accomplishment instructions using SB per configuration (.pdf):

The customized (.pdf) SB reflects the SB content only for the selected configuration, it is an extract of the
full content, nevertheless TASKSET/TASK references remain the same as the one listed in the full content
(.pdf).

Once this customized SB (.pdf) is selected:

 Tasks not applicable to the selected configuration are not included

 (.pdf) content is lighter and easier for Operators to process
2.9 SB MANPOWER & GANTT CHART

Gantt Chart (in case of elapsed time different from workload) for work management optimization :
2.10 SB REVISION: REVISION TRANSMITTAL SHEET (RTS)

Each SB revision is introduced by a Revision Transmittal Sheet that:

 Informs about additional work needed or not:

Or

 Informs about the main reasons for SB revision

 Lists inside the table CHANGES all chapters that are affected by this SB revision:
3. ISI ARTICLES LINKED TO SB ACTIVITIES

Some useful ISI articles linked to Service bulletin context are available within AirbusWorld:

Reference Title Remarks

ISI 00.00.00040 Decision tree for Service Bulletin revision

launching

ISI 00.00.00109 Service Bulletin - compliance Former SIL 00-005

ISI 00.00.00136 SB+ Accomplishment Instruction Layout Former SIL 00-103

ISI 00.00.00128 Airbus policy for VSBs coverage Former SIL 00-025

ISI 00.70.00009 Alphanumerical numbering – sequence number Former SIL 00-105

ISI 00.70.00010 Alphanumerical numbering – aircraft program

ISI 00.00.00112 FAQ SB’s

ISI 00.00.00043 Impact of a Rejection of MSCN on Standard SB

ISI 00.00.00161 External references from SB (ATA) to Tech Data

(S1000D)

ISI 00.00.00135 SB Reporting & incorporation of SB into Former SIL 00-037

customized TD

ISI 00.00.00281 VSB Publication on Airbus World

Survey for the Engineering Support section
 Annex

General Information
Potential impact:
Key information: General Customer Services Policy
Solution benefit:
First issue date: 24-NOV-2015 Issue date: 05-APR-2024 Last check date: 05-APR-2024

Technical parameters
ATA: 00-00
A/C type/serie: A300, A300-600, A310, A318, A319, A320, A321, A330, A340, A350, A380, AST
Engine:
Engine manufacturer:
Fault code/ECAM
warning:
FIN:
Part Number:
Supplier:

Attachments
General:
- ISI_00.00.00198_Summary.docx

Links
N/A
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