Definition
Specific steps required by a Minimum Equipment List (MEL) that must be carried out by the flight crew (operations) or by maintenance personnel (maintenance) before an aircraft can be dispatched with a piece of equipment inoperative. These procedures are referenced in the MEL and are mandatory conditions of the relief that allows the flight to depart with that item not working.
Plain English
When something on the aircraft is broken but the MEL still lets you fly, there are usually a few things that have to be done first — some by the pilot, some by a mechanic. Those required actions are the O&M procedures.
Context Anchor
Seen when using a Minimum Equipment List to decide whether an aircraft may be flown with a piece of equipment not working.
Why Pilots Care
Allows continued legal operation instead of grounding the aircraft for non-critical equipment failures.
Intuition Check
Do not read O&M procedures as general company habits or routine upkeep. In this context, they are specific required steps tied to a particular inoperative item before the flight may go.
Example Sentence 1
Before accepting the aircraft with the inoperative landing light, the captain confirmed that both O&M procedures listed in the MEL had been completed and signed off.
Example Sentence 2
Maintenance personnel completed the required O&M procedures to keep the aircraft airworthy with the deferred item.