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Young airplanes are worth more in pieces, CNBC explains

Leslie Josephs visits an Arizona teardown yard where scarce engines make dismantling nearly new passenger jets financially attractive.

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CNBC Story of October 31, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? 881,980 views so far, and here is what is inside it.

Why Young Airplanes Are Being Torn Apart For Scrap

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0:00An excavator dismantles a Spirit Airbus less than six years old in Goodyear, Arizona.
2:27Scarce, expensive engines can make dismantling a young aircraft more attractive than keeping it whole.
3:40Pratt & Whitney engine defects require early overhauls, grounding aircraft and increasing demand for replacement engines.
5:10Spirit's collapse releases aircraft into the market, depressing airframe values while engine demand remains high.
7:05GE Aerospace and RTX expand repair operations to address the maintenance backlog.

"Please don't fall in love with the metal," AerFin CEO Simon Goodson says. CNBC's report makes clear why he offers that warning: excavators in Goodyear, Arizona, are crushing a bright yellow Spirit Airlines Airbus less than six years old.

In "Why Young Airplanes Are Being Torn Apart For Scrap," airline reporter Leslie Josephs follows the economics behind that unsettling sight. These aren't simply worn-out aircraft reaching the end of their working lives. A shortage of engines and replacement parts has made some young planes more valuable dismantled than intact.

AeroDynamic Advisory partner Mike Stengel puts it plainly: "More than 80% of the value is in the engines alone." Manufacturing bottlenecks and defects requiring early engine overhauls have left airlines searching for replacements. Buying a whole aircraft to retrieve its engines can become the more attractive option.

Spirit's collapse adds another pressure. Josephs reports that the airline stopped operating after its second bankruptcy, releasing aircraft into a market where airframe values fell while demand for engines remained high. Inside an abandoned Spirit cabin, the seats are still there, even as the plane's future has become a parts calculation.

The report's title gets a concrete answer, rather than just footage of destruction: the shortage isn't necessarily of airplanes, but of the components needed to keep them flying. Its final section turns to GE Aerospace and RTX expanding repair operations to tackle the maintenance backlog.

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What viewers say

I could use that skeleton for my cockpit for my home flight sim :'(
@JMsooSee it on YouTube
Strange they're salvaging engines when they could just take the entire plane and put it into service. 🤔
@IconoclasherSee it on YouTube
The Goodyear detail really stood out to me. It is striking that parts, especially engines, can be worth more than keeping a young plane in service. That flips the usual idea of waste on its head, because the shortage is driving the decision, not just the age of the aircraft. It makes me wonder how airlines will balance fleet costs if that shortage lasts for years.
@MagnatefallSee it on YouTube

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