Prime Air, a components supplier and services provider owned by Florida based Heico, has acquired a former Spirit Airlines Airbus A320neo and plans to disassemble the aircraft in Arizona. The company says the teardown will yield a full suite of Pratt & Whitney PW1100G nacelle material.
Recovered inventory will be distributed across Prime Air warehouses in Chicago, Miami and the United Kingdom, positioning the parts for airlines and repair shops that need used serviceable material on short notice. Nacelle hardware for the PW1100G has drawn steady demand as operators of the A320neo family work through engine durability issues that have pushed aircraft into the shop earlier than planned.
The purchase lands in a busy stretch for the aftermarket teardown business. Werner Aero disclosed the same week that it had acquired two additional A320-200 airframes, one parked in Wales and one at a facility in Tucson, Arizona. That brings the company to 15 aircraft acquired so far in 2026 and 13 inducted into its teardown program.
Aircraft disassembly has become a larger share of the parts supply chain as new build deliveries run behind schedule and carriers keep older jets flying longer. Arizona remains a hub for the work because of its dry climate and its established storage and dismantling infrastructure. Salvaged engines, landing gear, avionics and structural components are inspected, repaired and recertified before returning to service, which shortens lead times compared with waiting on new production parts. Spirit Airlines has been reducing its fleet, releasing relatively young narrowbody airframes into a market where serviceable neo-generation material remains tight.
Source: Aviation Week - https://aviationweek.com/mro/mro-industry-rolling-daily-updates-august-2026