Reimagining Systemic Instabilities in Aircraft Turnaround

This thesis investigates how aircraft manufacturers, particularly Airbus, can play a more strategic role in improving aircraft turnaround operations, a critical, delay-prone segment of flight logistics. Utilizing a literature review, expert interviews, and co-design validation, the research identifies four systemic frictions, sequencing bottlenecks, communication breakdowns, interface mismatches, and accountability voids as root causes of inefficiency. Rather than optimizing individual tasks, the project reframes turnaround as a socio-technical system requiring systemic intervention. A speculative design approach is used to propose new OEM roles through three conceptual archetypes, leading to the development of the “Turnaround Futures Framework,” which maps the evolution from a defined-centralized system to a dynamic-distributed one. The final recommendation outlines six strategic levers Airbus can activate to reposition itself, not as a controller of ground operations, but as an enabler of system-wide alignment through design, interoperability, and open readiness standards.