MRO Memo: Views Differ On Early Teardowns

The teardown of young, desirable airframes is a “new reality” for the aftermarket, according to Aerfin chief executive Simon Goodson.

The UK-based parts specialist is currently dismantling several Airbus A320neos that were only built in 2017. Each aircraft yields about 1,400 parts—“many of which are urgently needed by operators facing long lead times and rising costs from the OEMs,” according to Goodson.

Another British parts company tearing down A320neos is AJW Group, although at the recent MRO Europe 2025 event in London its chief commercial officer, Scott Symington, stressed that the driving force behind these actions was sky-high valuations and lease rates for their next-generation engines.

He described it as “somewhat perverse” for AJW to be parting out six-year-old Neos over aging A320s due to lessors being able to earn as much from the spare new-generation engines as they would from whole aircraft leases.

He also noted that the actual value of an A320 airframe—which shares significant commonality with the Neo—is based on only 100 parts or so; the rest usually forming surplus inventory for AJW. 

Goodson, meanwhile, places less emphasis on engine value, arguing that early teardowns are a “smart, proactive strategy” that help operators reduce maintenance costs and “reduce their reliance on OEMs whose pricing structures and lead times are often difficult to absorb.”

He adds: “This isn’t so much a story of premature retirement—it’s a story of agility. Owners are responding decisively to a supply chain bottleneck by unlocking residual value from assets that, although still viable for continued operation, offer richer potential and less risk when strategically dismantled.”