CHAPTER 7
AIRCRAFT INVENTORY REPORTING SYSTEM
(AIRS)
The Navy Aircraft Inventory Reporting System
(AIRS) provides the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO),
the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR-
SYSCOM), and type commands with the information
needed to manage naval aviation. All information
collected by the inventory system is used for specific
purposes. No information is collected out of curiosity
or out of incidental interest.
The capability to fight, or the actual use of armed
aircraft on a combat mission, is the prime reason for
naval aviation; aircraft are the prime element of naval
aviation. Management of this element involves the
following:
Deciding what is to be accomplished
Acquiring and distributing the resources to do
what is to be accomplished
Regulating the use of these resources
Reviewing the overall program for possible
improvement; to see why things failed to go as
planned, what was overlooked, and what was
unnecessary;
to learn and benefit from
experience
These management functions depend upon
accurate feedback of service experience information of
the use and current status of aircraft.
INTRODUCTION
TO THE AIRCRAFT INVENTORY
REPORTING SYSTEM
(AIRS)
LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Identify the
instruction that describes reporting procedures
used in the Aircraft Inventory Reporting
System (AIRS).
Current AIRS procedures are established by the
latest edition of Aircraft Inventory Reporting System,
OPNAVINST 5442.2. This document provides
instructions for recording and reporting information
about the inventory, logistics, readiness, and use of
Navy aircraft. OPNAVINST 5442.2 also specifies.
policies and procedures that concern the custody and
the accountability of Navy aircraft.
Every aircraft, at any given instant from acceptance
by the Navy until final disposition, is in the custody of
one (and only one) reporting custodian and one (and
only one) controlling custodian. Controlling custodians
are commonly referred to as “operating commands,”
and reporting custodians are commonly referred to as
“operating units.” Whenever an aircraft changes
custody, the aircraft is transferred by one activity and
received by another. In these cases, receipt and transfer
are considered to be simultaneous transactions. An
aircraft remains in the reporting custody of the
transferring unit until accepted by the receiving unit.
Reporting custodians are the lower echelon
(squadrons and units assigned) and usually have
physical custody of the aircraft. Reporting custodians
are the initial source of all data used in the system.
Controlling custodians are the higher echelon—the
commands that exercise administrative control of
assignment, use, and logistic support of certain aircraft
as specified by the CNO. Examples of controlling
custodians are the Commander, Naval Air Force,
Atlantic Fleet (COMNAVAIRLANT); Commander,
Naval Air Force, Pacific Fleet (COMNAVAIRPAC);
and the Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA).
In most cases, an activity reports on a onetime basis
each incident of aircraft custody. change, status change,
flight operation, reduced material condition, or changes
in material condition reporting status (MCRS). Some of
this information is processed at the local level by the
data services facility (DSF) and forwarded to the
appropriate controlling custodian. Other information is
sent directly to the controlling custodian by the
reporting custodian via OPNAV XRAY reports.
Reporting documents used in AIRS include the
OPNAV XRAY message (used to report custody and
status change), the Maintenance Action Form (MAF)
(reports aircraft with reduced mission capability and
7-1
