How Fleet Is Expanding As Traffic Increases

More aircraft are becoming available as passenger traffic increases. Just 21% of the global commercial aviation fleet is in parked or parked/reserve status, according to the Aviation Week Network’s Fleet Discovery database. In addition, OEMs delivered 32% more aircraft in the first four months of 2021 compared to the same period last year. At the same time, aircraft retirements were 69% lower in the first four months compared to the same timeframe in 2020—and 19% lower than in 2019. Only China has recovered to pre-pandemic levels of utilization.