Engines Drive Surge In Boeing 757 Values

The market for Rolls-Royce RB211-535E4 engines powering the Boeing 757 has been experiencing a bit of a paradox: values have risen despite aircraft retirements, largely due to high maintenance costs and demand for parts, according to industry sources.

The 757 remains a particularly interesting case. Despite some major operators like FedEx retiring aircraft to long-term storage, industry analysts have seen a slight uptick in market values since the start of 2025. At first glance, this seems somewhat counterintuitive, with values rising while aircraft are being phased out.

Analysts suggest the key driver is the high maintenance costs, especially for engines. The RB211-535E4, which powers many of these aircraft, currently commands significant value. Additionally, shop visit costs have risen considerably, contributing to this temporary boost in asset values.

However, industry sources expect this trend to be short-lived, estimating the trend to hold for another 12-18 months before values begin to decline in line with lease rates.

Lewis Prebble, StandardAero’s president of airlines and fleets, sees serviceable RB211-535 engines, modules and parts commanding strong values, like previous generation engines such as the CFM International CFM56 and IAE V2500. “It’s due to the constrained availability of good-quality assets with significant cycles remaining,” he says.

Prebble says StandardAero is keen to keep operators flying and to minimize the cost of operation by offering a broad range of RB211-535 services, from MRO and in-house component repair development to used serviceable material (USM) and green-time engines and modules.

Prebble acknowledges that the 757 remains popular among freight operators, with its retirement pace slowing somewhat due to the ongoing delivery delays affecting newer-generation aircraft. “This has, in turn, limited the availability of potential narrowbody conversion candidates [such as the Airbus A321ceo], due to operators relying on these aircraft to fill in for delayed new-generation deliveries,” he says.

StandardAero has serviced RB211-535 engines at its San Antonio facility since 2018. This includes support through USM partnerships with specialized asset management firms.

StandardAero also supports engines enrolled in the OEM’s TotalCare power-by-the-hour program, as well as transactional MRO shop visits contracted directly.

“We work tirelessly to ensure that we always have slots available for transactional customers on short notice,” Prebble says. He adds that demand for spare engines is a key factor influencing pricing trends in the used market, alongside the availability of shop visit slots and the turnaround times for MRO events.

While several major 757 operators in the U.S., including FedEx, United Airlines and UPS, are expected to retire their fleets over the next decade, Prebble sees the platform remaining popular with operators elsewhere—notably in China.

“The 757 is also enjoying new life with secondary and tertiary operators, especially in Central Asia, which—together with the limited availability of green-time engines—is likely to keep asset values strong,” says Prebble.

StandardAero expects to continue supporting the 757 and RB211-535 operator community for the remainder of the aircraft and engine platforms’ lives at its San Antonio facility alongside the next-generation CFM International Leap-1A and -1B powerplants.