Airlines are navigating the peak of the 2026 summer season with far less margin for disruption, making rapid aircraft-on-ground (AOG) recovery a critical operational capability rather than simply a maintenance function.
New data from parts trading marketplace Locatory suggests that tightening aftermarket inventories are translating into increased demand for hard-to-source components as airlines seek to protect schedules during the busiest period of the year.
According to Locatory, search activity for components associated with unscheduled maintenance increased by 42% month-on-month during June, while the marketplace shortage rate rose by 3.5%, indicating that buyers were encountering more unmatched demand as the summer peak began.
Locatory CEO Toma Matutyte tells Aviation Week that demand for components associated with unscheduled maintenance increased sharply in May and June, particularly for life-limited parts, rotable components and high-pressure turbine (HPT) material.
Matutyte said these statistics show that “buyers were facing more unmatched demand as peak season started,” adding: “For airlines, that makes AOG readiness even more important, because when parts are scarce, sourcing takes longer, extending groundings and increasing financial exposure.”
The marketplace trends coincide with a summer operating environment in which airlines have significantly less flexibility to absorb technical disruptions than in previous years, suggests Sarunas Kisevicius, interim head of EngineStands.com, an online platform specializing in the lease and sale of aircraft engine stands.
Kisevicius says the financial impact of an aircraft grounding is significantly greater this summer, with airlines facing tighter margins, record load factors and ongoing delivery delays. According to the company’s data, a global backlog of around 18,100 aircraft is also keeping older fleets in service longer, increasing exposure to unscheduled maintenance events.
He adds that fuel price volatility and reduced demand for ACMI services have further increased operators’ sensitivity to disruption.
Notably, Kisevicius believes AOG events now carry a much greater financial penalty than they did last summer, as airlines have far less spare capacity to absorb operational disruption. While rapid recovery has always been important, he thinks the current operating environment has made speed of response and execution more critical than ever.
Longer engine overhaul cycles are also changing how airlines prepare for maintenance events before an aircraft ever becomes grounded.
“With engines spending more time in overhaul, spare engine pools have become much thinner, leaving operators with less flexibility when an AOG occurs,” he notes. “That means the entire supporting ecosystem, including spare engine, engine stand and transport, needs to be ready before the aircraft is already on the ground.”
The same pressures are visible in the aftermarket, where slower repair cycles are limiting the availability of serviceable material.
“From the procurement side, the biggest change is that serviceable material is not flowing back into the market fast enough,” Matutyte says. “Components that would normally return after overhaul are staying tied up for longer, reducing available inventory just as operators are trying to protect summer schedules.”
She adds that the CFM International CFM56 fleet remains at the center of the current supply challenge. “The CFM56 components are most affected by this dynamic. HPT disks, HPT rear shafts, [high-pressure compressor] spools and hydromechanical units have appeared in our most-searched lists for multiple consecutive months, pointing to persistent shortage patterns that operators keep returning to the market to resolve.”
Rather than simply investing in larger spare inventories, airlines are also adopting broader contingency strategies designed to shorten recovery times.
“Stronger contingency planning now depends on verified alternatives,” says Matutyte, such as knowing which verified suppliers have a component, its location and which supplier can move most quickly in an AOG situation. “Operators that build this visibility in advance are better prepared to shorten recovery times and reduce the impact of unexpected maintenance events.”
Current demand patterns suggest mature narrowbody fleets remain under the greatest pressure. EngineStands.com says CFM56-powered aircraft continue to generate the highest demand for AOG support, while CFM International Leap-powered fleets are entering more extensive maintenance cycles and Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan operators continue to contend with extended turnaround times and limited spare-engine availability.
Locatory’s marketplace data similarly shows repeated demand centered on Boeing 737NG and Airbus A320ceo fleets, where continued high utilization is driving persistent searches for dispatch-critical engine and rotable components.
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