Explainer
What Is an Aircraft Maintenance Task Card?
The Definition
One Job, One Page
A task card says what to do on one job, how to do it or where the procedure is, and who signed for each step. It is the page a technician holds at the aircraft, and the page that later shows the work was done. AC 120-16G describes work cards, “sometimes referred to as job cards or task cards,” as the “what to do” and the “how to do it” parts of an air carrier's maintenance program, and as a control element that also documents the maintenance.
Cards are not mandated by name. The AC calls them “not a specific regulatory requirement,” and says they have evolved as a best practice. For what the program itself must contain, see our guide to the aircraft maintenance program.
Terms
Card, Work Order, Package, AMM Task
- Task card, job card, work card
- Usually the same thing under different names. AC 120-16G says work cards are sometimes referred to as job cards or task cards. One card covers one unit of work.
- Work order
- The container for a visit or a job: the aircraft, the reason, the scope, and usually the parts and labor. It tracks the work as a whole. A card tells a technician what to do inside it. Operators draw the line differently, and some software uses the words interchangeably.
- Work package
- A bundle of cards, and the supporting material, grouped for a check or a visit. The cards are the pieces; the package is what the planner releases to the floor.
- AMM task
- The manufacturer's procedure for a job in the maintenance manual. A card either reproduces those steps or points to the task by reference. The AMM task is the source data; the card is the operator's controlled form of it.
Usage differs between operators and between software systems, so treat these as the common reading, not a standard. For the manual the cards draw on, see what an aircraft maintenance manual is. For how a task card differs from a procedure and from a manual in general, see SOP vs. work instruction vs. manual.
Two Kinds
Routine and Non-Routine Cards
- Routine cards
- Scheduled work that comes from the maintenance program: an inspection, a servicing task, a functional check, a repetitive directive. Each is known in advance, so the card can be written and reviewed before the aircraft arrives.
- Non-routine cards
- Work raised by a finding while a routine card is being worked: corrosion, a damaged fastener, a failed check. Nobody planned it, so it is written when the finding is made, linked back to the card that found it, and worked and signed off in its own right. The rules name both: the manual must give the method of performing routine and nonroutine maintenance (§ 121.369(b)(1), § 135.427(b)(1)).
Inspections
RII, Buy-Back, and Shift Changes
Air carrier manuals under Parts 121 and 135 must designate the items of maintenance and alteration that must be inspected, the required inspection items (RII), and the method and the personnel who may perform each one (§ 121.369(b)(2) and (3); § 135.427(b)(2) and (3)). AC 120-16G advises identifying RII requirements clearly on work forms, job cards, and similar documents, and stating the buy-back procedures.
Buy-back is the reinspection of work performed under previous required inspection findings (§ 121.369(b)(4)). The AC also notes that RII procedures, standards, and limits are not in the manufacturer's manual: the operator has to develop them. A card is the usual place they show up in the work.
Shift change is a handoff problem. Part 121 requires procedures so that required inspections, other maintenance, and alterations not completed as a result of shift changes or similar work interruptions are properly completed before the aircraft is released to service (§ 121.369(b)(9)); § 135.427(b)(9) is worded for work interruptions. A card that shows which steps are signed and which are open makes that handoff visible.
A 2022 FAA notice (now expired) records that the order's task-card examples were “a means (but not the only means)” of designating, performing, and documenting required inspections, and that some inspectors had taken cards to be required. The rule asks for the methods; the card is one way to deliver them.
Where Cards Come From
From OEM Data to the Floor
The manufacturer supplies the scheduled tasks and intervals in the maintenance planning document and the procedures in the maintenance manual. The operator builds its maintenance program from them, adds airworthiness directives, service bulletins, and its own inspection rules, and then turns each scheduled task into work the floor can do. That is the card.
AC 120-16G suggests identifying, on the maintenance schedule, the task or work card associated with each scheduled task, so the operator can show that every task is accomplished on schedule. When a bulletin or manual revision changes a procedure, the cards that cite it change too; our piece on keeping service bulletins and revisions current covers the discipline.
Quality
What Makes a Card Usable
The rules do not set a card format, so these are practical tests, tied to the rule text where it speaks:
- Steps in the order they are done
- A technician should be able to follow the card top to bottom without opening three documents. Cautions sit before the step they protect, not at the end.
- A sign-off for each point of accountability
- Separate blocks for the person who did the work, any required inspection, and the person who approves it, because the person who performs an item of work cannot perform the required inspection of it (§ 121.369(b)(7)). The rules ask for the identity of the individual approving the work (§ 121.369(c)(3)).
- References to current data
- Part 121 and 135 manuals must record a description of the work or a reference to acceptable data (§ 121.369(c)(1)). A reference is only as good as the revision it names, so a card that cites a task needs a way to show which revision of the AMM it was written against.
- Effectivity
- Which aircraft, by model, serial number, configuration or modification status, the card applies to. A card that does not say will eventually be worked on an aircraft it was not written for.
- Room to record results
- AC 120-16G notes that cards can also capture the results of inspections, checks, and tests, which feeds the operator's analysis of whether its program works.
Writing Cards
Cards From OEM and Operator Data
Shakewell writes and converts aircraft maintenance task cards and card libraries from OEM and operator data. The operator's program, manual, and approvals stay the operator's own; the cards are built to match them.
FAQ
Questions We Hear
What is a task card in aircraft maintenance?
A task card is the instruction-and-record page for one unit of maintenance work. It names the task and the aircraft, gives the steps or a reference to the maintenance manual procedure, and carries the sign-offs. It tells the technician what to do and documents that it was done.
What is the difference between a task card and a work order?
A work order covers a job or a visit as a whole: the aircraft, the scope, and the resources. A task card covers one unit of work inside it. Many operators put several cards under one work order. Naming varies, so read how your own manual and system use the terms.
Are task cards required by regulation?
Not by name. AC 120-16G calls work cards “not a specific regulatory requirement” that have evolved as a best practice. A 2022 FAA notice (now expired) said task cards are one means, not the only means, of designating, performing, and documenting required inspections, and that treating them as required was a misconception. What the rule requires is the methods and records. Read the rule and your own manual for what applies to you.
What is a non-routine task card?
A card for work found while doing planned work, such as damage discovered during an inspection. It is raised when the finding is made, tied to the card that found it, and worked and signed off separately.
What does RII mean on a task card?
Required inspection item. The operator's manual designates the maintenance and alterations that must be inspected, and AC 120-16G says to identify RIIs clearly on work forms or job cards so everyone knows an inspection is required. The person who did the work cannot be the one who performs that inspection.
Where do task cards come from?
From the operator's maintenance program. The manufacturer supplies the scheduled tasks (see the maintenance planning document) and the procedures (the maintenance manual); the operator adds directives, bulletins, its own inspection rules, and then writes cards. AC 120-16G recommends tying each scheduled task on the schedule to its card.
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