According to the GAO, “…three Air Force and three Navy aviation depots maintain critical aircraft such as the KC-135 tanker and F/A-18 fighter. Delays at depots can reduce aircraft availability for operations and training. We reviewed depot performance for selected aircraft over 6 years. Air Force depots completed maintenance on-time or early in 5 of 6 years (with aircraft in maintenance 22,572 fewer days than expected). Navy depots were late all 6 years (over 62,000 more days than expected). We also identified Navy planning challenges, such as a need for more effective use of historical maintenance data.” The GAO went on to make three recommendations to the Navy to assist in reducing delays.

This new report followed on the heels of a related January 2020 report entitled “GAO-20-116 Military Depots: DOD Can Benefit from Further Sharing of Best Practices and Lessons Learned”.