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FTAI Aviation is leveraging the power of its expanding maintenance and module exchange business to help raise capital from its debut aircraft asset-backed securitisation (ABS).
MRE 2026-1 is a $612 million issuance that will see investors acquire a portfolio of 48 midlife narrowbody aircraft, five of which are freighters.
The portfolio—all on-lease Boeing 737NG and Airbus A320s—has a weighted average age of 15.6 years, which ratings agency KBRA notes is older than other midlife ABS deals it rates.
It views this as a credit negative due to the risks typically associated with mid- to end-of-life aircraft, namely increased value volatility, more limited re-leasing prospects, higher maintenance costs and technological obsolescence for out-of-production models.
However, the rating agency views FTAI’s maintenance, repair and exchange business as a mitigating factor, allowing it to maximize the useful life of components from the CFM56 and V2500 engines that power the aircraft.
“Consequently, FTAI manages aircraft with the assumption of running out aircraft to the end of their useful lives prior to disposition,” KBRA said in a note.
Another attractive aspect of the FTAI ABS is that its faster-than-typical amortization schedule enables quicker repayment and deleveraging of the series A and B notes that investors acquire.
FTAI Aviation serviced 270 CFM56 modules in the first quarter of 2026, almost double the prior-year period’s volume, and the company remains bullish about demand despite Middle East tensions. These included the first modules from FTAI’s new facility in Lisbon, Portugal, which along with its Rome site is still in ramp-up phase.
Established facilities in Miami and Montreal, meanwhile, serviced more than 200 modules between them in the quarter.
Joseph Adams, FTAI’s chief executive, recently said that current-generation aircraft will remain a major part of the global fleet for many years.
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