When a plane spends the night at a hub with maintenance facilities, the airline typically tries to use the opportunity to correct noncritical maintenance issues that have been reported, such as broken tray tables. Other than this, planes don't need rest or anything like a good night's sleep as people do.

However, maintenance schedules depend on the number of cycles (takeoffs and landings) performed as well as total flight hours rather than the absolute age of the airframe. The heavy maintenance checks are expensive. Some carriers seem to be better than others in keeping up with preventive maintenance to make mechanical delays less likely or less severe.