Every AOG call starts the same way: an aircraft is down, a part is needed, and the clock is running. What has changed in 2026 is what happens after the part is found. The global maintenance system is running at its limit, spare parts are scarcer than they have been in years, and the aircraft waiting on them are staying down longer. We see it every week from the dispatch desk — and it has changed how much a fast logistics response is actually worth.
The Maintenance System Is Running at Its Peak
Bain & Company projected that engine MRO demand would hit its near-term peak in 2026 — and that is exactly where we are. Engine shop visit turnaround times are running 35% longer than pre-pandemic levels for legacy engines, and more than 150% longer for new-generation engines like the Pratt & Whitney GTF and CFM LEAP. Looking further out, Bain forecasts a capacity shortfall of more than 17% between demand for shop visits and available MRO capacity by the end of the decade.
The GTF situation illustrates the scale. Per Cirium data reported this spring, nearly 1,900 PW1000G-powered jets are in service and roughly 770 more sit in storage, most waiting on engine work. The good news: groundings declined about 15% in the first quarter of 2026 as RTX added maintenance capacity and ramped production of cast and forged parts. The hard news: even an improving curve leaves hundreds of airframes parked, and every one of them is consuming spare engines, spare parts, and shop slots that the rest of the fleet also needs.
The Parts That Keep Going Missing
It is not just engines in overhaul. Component availability is tight across the board. Marketplace data from Locatory for August 2026 shows engine components making up 37.2% of the hardest-to-find parts in circulation, with GE90 items — FADEC units, an HMU control assembly, a temperature/pressure sensor — sitting on the hardest-to-find list for four consecutive months. In one industry survey, 75% of MRO respondents reported extended turnaround times for engines and APUs.
Demand is not letting up either. GE Aerospace reported spare-parts revenue up more than 25% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, alongside record shop-visit output — and parts are still hard to source. When production growth of that scale cannot close the gap, the gap is structural.
What This Means When Your Aircraft Goes Down
Here is the operational reality behind those numbers. In a loose parts market, a grounded aircraft is mostly a sourcing problem — the part is on a shelf nearby, and routine shipping gets it there. In a tight market, the serviceable unit your AOG desk finally locates is rarely nearby. It is at a teardown facility three time zones away, at another carrier’s stores, or coming off a bench with one signature left. It may also be the only one available this week, with two other operators calling about it.
That changes the math on transportation. When sourcing takes longer and the next unit may not appear for days, the hours between “part located” and “part installed” are the hours you can actually control. Freight networks were not built for that job — cutoff times, hub sorts, and hand-offs add half a day here and a connection risk there.
How We Shorten the Wait
Our job on an AOG is that controllable window. Depending on the part, the distance, and the clock, that means a dedicated cargo charter direct from the source to the downed aircraft, an on-board courier hand-carrying a FADEC or an avionics unit under single custody, or the fastest next-flight-out routing when the airlines genuinely win. With a network of 500+ vetted Part 135 operators, we typically have wheels up in under two hours — and we run the mission until the part is signed for at the hangar, not just to the destination airport.
In a year when shop slots are rationed and the next serviceable unit may be weeks out, moving the one you found — immediately, with custody intact — is the cheapest insurance in aviation.
Aircraft down and a part located? Call us at (858) 529-7860 or email quotes@onflyair.com — we answer 24/7/365, and we quote in minutes, not hours.