Equipment one encounters in the aerospace industry is very complex: think about an aircraft engine.  It is, in fact, so complex that airlines usually have a separate agreement with the engine maintenance provider, often the same company that manufactures the engines.  We are probably all familiar with repair and maintenance services through the car dealership: they will charge you for parts AND labor, and you can rarely tell upfront how much. So about 30 years ago Rolls-Royce came up with an innovative customer proposition: provide exact same service for exact same products, but charge customers per flying hour of the engine.  Why is this different enough to be liked by many customers?  And why is this attractive enough to inspire entire US Department of…