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Engine shortages send young Airbus and Boeing jets to the scrap yard
CNBC reports owners are tearing down planes as young as four years old for engines and parts after long repair waits, with Spirit Airlines' collapse adding Airbus jets to the market.
- New headline Was: “Why popular airplanes are getting scrapped years early”
- Our desk filed its story
Some of the world's most common passenger jets are being stripped for parts years earlier than usual because engines and other components are scarce, CNBC reported Saturday from a teardown yard in Goodyear, Arizona1.
The network described an Airbus A320neo that left Airbus's Mobile, Alabama, factory in July 2022 in Spirit Airlines colors and was crushed in May, less than four years later, after being stripped of parts worth millions1. Those aircraft are typically built to fly for decades1.
Bill Thompson of EirTrade Aviation, which bought that jet and another similarly aged plane, told CNBC it was the first time in his career the firm had purchased an aircraft less than five years old1. He said the company paid "single-digit" millions each and expected a profit from more than 1,000 parts taken off them before they were crushed1.
Aviation data firm IBA Group told CNBC that 21 newest-generation aircraft were torn down from June 2025 through August, averaging 6.4 years old and including mostly Airbus but some Boeing planes1. IBA put the typical retirement age for narrow-body jets at 21.7 years1.
Dave Querio, chief executive of Ascent Aviation Services in Marana, Arizona, said waits of three or four years for parts on jets that arrived in 2023 through 2025 were pushing owners toward teardown rather than storage1. He said he had not seen "the volume of younger aircraft being torn down as I'm seeing today"1.
CNBC said a major driver is delayed, costly engine maintenance on newer, hotter-running, more fuel-efficient engines, backing up shops at GE Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney and independents1. A 2023 Pratt & Whitney recall over contaminated powdered metal grounded hundreds of Airbus jets worldwide; Spirit was among the U.S. carriers most affected before it collapsed in May1.
IBA figures cited by CNBC put some Pratt engines for A320neo aircraft near $17 million at the high end this year, about 60% above 2019 highs1. Monthly leases were about $160,000 to $180,000 for those Pratt engines and $130,000 to $180,000 for competing CFM International engines, IBA said1. An engine fan blade can cost $50,000 to more than $100,000, and an engine disc $1 million to $2 million, AerFin chief executive Simon Goodson told CNBC1.
Consultant Mike Stengel of AeroDynamic Advisory described airlines as moving engines among airframes while shop visits lag1. After valuable equipment is sold, he said, what remains is a metal carcass crushed and sold to recyclers1.
CNBC said Spirit's shutdown added more Airbus jets to desert storage at AerSale in Goodyear, with some likely to fly for other airlines, some to sit, and some to be parted out if engines stay scarce1. The network said the young-teardown trend predated Spirit's collapse1.
