GOODYEAR, Ariz. — An Airbus A320neo, one of the world's most popular planes, rolled off the Mobile, Alabama, factory line in July 2022, painted bright yellow for its next destination: Spirit Airlines.
It was built to fly for decades. But this May, less than four years later, it was stripped for parts worth millions and crushed, the steel teeth of an excavator tearing through its fuselage at a facility on the outskirts of Phoenix.
More aircraft are getting dismantled years, if not decades, earlier than expected, industry executives told CNBC. It is the result of a shortage of parts, none more precious and expensive than aircraft engines, that has exasperated airlines and driven up costs for years.
Even after the engines are removed, firms are looking for parts as varied as landing gear and antennae to sell.
"It's the first time in my career that involved purchasing an aircraft that's less than five years since date of manufacture," said Bill Thompson, vice president who leads aircraft and engine acquisition for the Americas at aviation asset management and trading firm EirTrade Aviation, which bought the less than 4-year-old Airbus A320neo earlier this year.