Delta Air Lines' maintenance division, TechOps, is building what executives describe as a path toward a $5 billion annual run-rate business built on repairing engines and aircraft parts for other airlines, a segment known as third-party maintenance, repair and overhaul. Delta began reporting the unit's results separately for the first time this year after MRO revenue more than doubled year over year in the first quarter, the division's best quarter on record. The company expects to close out 2026 with more than $1 billion in MRO revenue and has said it could grow to $2 billion to $3 billion annually within a few years.
The work is centered at Delta TechOps' roughly 13,000-employee operation split between Atlanta and Minneapolis, with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Clayton County serving as the segment's hub. Delta holds certified engine shops for CFM International, GE Aviation, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce, and the airline says it is now the largest MRO provider in North America by volume of work. One of its three engine test cells, built at a cost of $100 million, is described as the world's largest.
Delta's outgoing chief operating officer, John Laughter, said growth stalled during the pandemic as the airline redirected capacity to its own fleet, but external work has expanded again over the past year. Company leaders point to aviation maintenance technician pay reaching up to $140,000 annually as evidence of the labor investment behind the buildout, even as the segment competes for talent with other Georgia aerospace employers.
Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - https://www.ajc.com/business/2026/04/inside-deltas-next-5-billion-business/