Metrics to Compare Aircraft Operating and Support Costs in the Department of Defense
Abstract
This report examines several issues associated with the cost-per-flying-hour (CPFH) metric used in the Department of Defense (DoD). CPFH is calculated as the ratio of an aircraft fleets operating-and-support (O and S) costs divided by its flying hours. Subsets of an aircraft fleets total annual O and S cost are budgeted in DoD for the flying-hour program used to achieve and maintain flight-crew proficiency and used to calculate hourly rates when DoD aircraft are flown on a reimbursable basis. In addition, other aggregations of costs are used to calculate CPFH and compare O and S costs of different aircraft for various other reasons, including informing decisions on aircraft acquisition and force structure. This report examines usages of CPFH in DoD, including its use to compare O and S costs of different aircraft. The report recommends a definition of CPFH to be used when comparing aircraft and recommends several ways the cost and usage data should be normalized. The report also recommends a cost-per-aircraft metric(where primary aircraft inventory [PAI] is used for the number of aircraft) as an alternative metric for comparing the O and S costs of aircraft.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2015
- Accession Number
- AD1156426
Entities
People
- Bradley Deblois
- Edward G. Keating
- Ilana Blum
- John Wallace
- Michael Boito
Organizations
- RAND Corporation