Maintenance, repair, and overhaul operations account for more than 259,000 employees and $41.6 billion in revenue across the United States civil aviation maintenance sector, according to economic data published by the Aeronautical Repair Station Association. That represents 79 percent of the sector workforce and 64 percent of its economic activity.

Parts manufacturing and distribution makes up the remainder. That segment produces 36 percent of sector economic activity, or $23.4 billion, and employs 21 percent of the workforce with nearly 69,000 people.

The domestic figures sit inside a global industry that ARSA and Oliver Wyman size at more than $140 billion in their 2026 Global Fleet and MRO Market Forecast, supported by more than 5,000 companies employing close to 430,000 professionals worldwide.

The forecast identifies three pressures shaping the next several years. Supply chain instability continues to constrain parts availability. Workforce shortages persist as experienced technicians retire faster than replacements enter the field. Aircraft are aging, and engine designs are growing more complex, which lifts maintenance content per airframe.

Maintenance revenue is projected to grow faster than the fleet itself, meaning spending per aircraft rises even where fleet counts hold flat. For repair station operators, that gap between fleet growth and revenue growth is the clearest measure of how much additional work each airframe now generates.

Source: Aeronautical Repair Station Association - https://arsa.org/news-media/economic-data/