• Engine shortages and reliability issues drove record MRO demand in 2025, extending shop turnaround times and forcing airlines to keep older fleets flying.
• Industry backlogs and parts constraints left thousands of aircraft waiting for engines, while maintenance spend climbed to USD 62.4 billion.
• EngineStands.com data also showed sharply higher stand utilisation and longer leasing periods, reflecting tighter capacity across both legacy and new-generation engine types.

CFM International continued to lead the commercial turbofan delivery charts in 2025 with its LEAP engines, powering the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320neo. While final delivery data for 2025 has not yet been published, Safran reported 1,240 LEAP engines delivered through the first nine months of the year, representing a 21 percent increase compared with 2024. Based on Safran’s third-quarter results, which indicated a 20 percent full-year increase, total LEAP deliveries for 2025 are estimated to fall between 1,618 and 1,688 units if the trend continued in Q4.

In early November 2025, Rick Deurloo, President of Commercial Engines at Pratt & Whitney, reported that the OEM had already supplied enough engines (PW1100G for A320neo, PW1500G for A220) to meet Airbus’s 2025 revised aircraft delivery targets (790 aircraft), and was even delivering engines destined for 2026 production ahead of schedule. Also, Pratt & Whitney’s Geared Turbofan family experienced significant commercial momentum, with approximately 1,100 engines ordered/committed in 2025 and an overall backlog exceeding 12,000 engines in June of 2025.

Precise delivery figures for widebody engines are not yet publicly available. However, industry data indicate that more than one-third of the widebody fleet, approximately 5,000 of 14,000 engines, already operates new-generation aircraft models including Trent XWB, Trent 1000, Trent 700, GEnx, and GE9X.

Engine market challenges in 2025 and MRO impact

Despite the acceleration in engine deliveries in late 2025, current production remains insufficient to close the gap between airline demand and available aircraft and engines. The ongoing structural backlog of over 17,000 aircraft, equivalent to nearly 12 years of current production capacity, combined with ageing fleets and ongoing engine constraints that have left more than 5,000 aircraft waiting for engines in storage, continues to strain the industry. Airlines continue to face capacity limitations, higher operating costs, and delayed fleet modernisation, highlighting that while deliveries are increasing, they are far from enough to meet the industry’s near-term requirements, and the mismatch is expected to persist well into the early 2030s.

On top of these existing constraints, new-generation engines (PW1500, PW1100, LEAP-1A, LEAP-1B) required earlier and more complex repairs than anticipated, resulting in nearly 6,000 MRO events. Therefore, airlines operating Airbus A320neo, Boeing 737 MAX, Airbus A350, and Boeing 787 aircraft faced unexpected downtime. By late 2025, over 800 GTF engines were out of service globally, grounding almost 38 percent of the A320neo fleet, because contamination in turbine components caused cracks and prolonged inspection cycles. These reliability issues, combined with persistent shortages of hot-section parts, high-pressure turbine blades, and other critical components, further constrained production and delayed aircraft deliveries.

To mitigate these disruptions, airlines were forced to operate older aircraft longer, returning legacy engines such as CFM56 and V2500 to MRO shops for more intensive, age-related maintenance, driving MRO demand up by almost US 23 billion. Moreover, turnaround times for engine overhauls increased sharply, rising 35 percent for legacy engines and more than 150 percent for new-generation engines compared with five years ago, and wait times for maintenance slots extended by two to six months, driving prolonged aircraft groundings and rising lease and spare part costs. Overall, engine maintenance costs in 2025 totalled USD 62.4 billion, with USD 29.6 billion for narrowbody engines, USD 27.4 billion for widebody engines, and USD 5.4 billion for regional engines.

Delayed deliveries and ageing fleets also had a direct financial impact; IATA estimated these factors cost airlines over an additional USD 11 billion in 2025. This surge in MRO demand and aftermarket pressure highlighted the critical role of spare engine availability, inventory management, and long-term service agreements with OEMs, MROs, and ground support equipment providers.

2025 engine stand demand and operational impacts

In 2025, EngineStands.com’s client base reflected shifting aftermarket dynamics, with demand drivers varying by customer segment:

Airlines drove strong demand for CFM56-7B, CFM56-5A/B, V2500, LEAP-1A, LEAP-1B, and PW1100 engines in 2025, highlighting operators’ need to support ageing fleets and manage durability challenges associated with new-generation engines.

Lessors were among the most active EngineStands.com customer groups in 2025, with elevated stand utilisation for both narrowbody (LEAP-1A, PW1100, V2500) and widebody engines (Trent700), highlighting their growing role in managing maintenance exposure and preserving engine value in a tight aftermarket.

Stand utilisation linked to MRO activity was concentrated around widebody platforms Trent700 and PW4000-94, as well as select narrowbody models including CFM56-7B, CFM56-5A/B, and PW1500, reflecting backlog recovery efforts and increasingly complex maintenance events.

Traders contributed to episodic but meaningful demand in 2025, particularly for stands of the most popular engine types such as CFM56-7B, PW1100, PW4000-94, and V2500. Trader-driven projects are typically associated with engine transitions, teardowns, or short-term holding periods.

Utilisation and project duration trends

This broad demand, combined with the industry’s increase in maintenance events and extended project timelines, translated directly into higher stand utilisation at EngineStands.com across the engine families that dominated maintenance volumes in 2025.

For example, the utilisation rate of stands for new-generation engine models more than doubled in 2025 compared with 2023, with the LEAP-1A model experiencing a remarkable 179 percent increase. Meanwhile, utilisation of stands for legacy engine models rose by one third in 2025 compared with 2024, and CFM56-5A/B stand usage increased by 60 percent.

EngineStands.com also reports a significant year-on-year increase in rental durations in 2025, reflecting broader industry trends of longer turnaround times, limited availability of engine shop slots, and more intensive maintenance cycles overall.

Stands for narrowbody legacy engines, including CFM56-7B and CFM56-5A/B, saw leasing periods extend by nearly 48 percent and 21 percent, respectively, while V2500 project timelines rose by 53 percent, driven largely by high numbers of ageing aircraft still in service.

Use of new-generation narrowbody engine stands showed more dynamic trends. LEAP-1B engine stand leasing periods grew by 133 percent, whereas LEAP-1A projects slightly shortened by 2 percent. Meanwhile, PW1100 and PW1500 rental durations decreased by 16 percent and 2 percent, respectively.

Engine stand rental periods for widebody engines PW4000-94 surged by 262 percent, while Trent700 leases shortened by 17 percent.

Hanna Lavinskaja, Head of EngineStands.com, elaborated on this data and its implications for the engine maintenance industry:

“Our 2025 figures clearly reflect the pressures our customers faced last year across the engine maintenance ecosystem, including longer shop visit turnaround times, tighter MRO capacity, and more intensive maintenance events. These trends point to slower stand circulation and tighter availability, highlighting the importance of securing equipment in advance and aligning stand planning closely with maintenance schedules to minimise operational disruption.

I want to truly thank our clients for choosing EngineStands.com during this year of challenging conditions. Our mission remains to work closely with operators and MROs to ensure critical ground support equipment is available when it is needed most. Supporting industry through challenges and helping them to reduce the workflow disruptions remains central to everything we do.”

Building on this commitment, EngineStands.com has earned the trust of leading airlines and MROs by providing access to OEM-certified engine stand leasing solutions that keep maintenance operations on schedule. Suresh Kumar Korkana, Aircraft on Ground Duty Manager at Gulf Air, shared his insights on partnering with EngineStands.com:

“Working with EngineStands.com has been an exceptional experience from start to finish and they are very flexible to work with. The quality of their equipment is good & in excellent condition, which helped our workflow efficiency simultaneously maintaining the high safety standards. What truly sets them apart is their reliable service and customer-centric approach. Their team is responsive, knowledgeable, and always ready to provide support when needed. Delivery was timely, the stands arrived in excellent condition, and the after-sales support has been remarkable. EngineStands.com has become a trusted partner for our maintenance operations, and I confidently recommend their services to any organisation seeking dependable, high-quality engine stand solutions”

Operators rely on partners who understand operational urgency, engine-specific requirements, logistical constraints, and who can address situations proactively. That’s why, at EngineStands.com, meeting customer needs is the top priority of every operation. As Bluebird Airways representative Vasilis Mesemanolis shared:

“Working with EngineStands.com was delightful. We came to them with a very urgent request for a stand, and they managed to make all arrangements during the weekend, which was very much appreciated. Communication was easy and smooth, and everything was clear and straightforward. Very good pricing for the level of services and support”.

Future engine market forecast

Looking ahead, by the end of 2035 the global fleet is expected to have approximately 90,000 engines in active service. New engine deliveries are expected to remain concentrated among a few key manufacturers. CFM should dominate the narrowbody segment with 72 percent global share, while Pratt & Whitney accounts for 28 percent in the forecasts, reinforcing the central role of the LEAP and GTF families despite ongoing durability and maintenance challenges. In the widebody market, deliveries are predicted to remain evenly split between General Electric at 51 percent and Rolls-Royce at 49 percent, with regional differences shaped by fleet composition and aircraft programme allocation.

Under current trends, industry analysis projects that engine MRO demand could peak in 2026 and exceed available capacity by more than 17 percent by the end of the decade, with total projected MRO demand from 2025 to 2034 estimated at USD 1.39 trillion, and nearly half ($690 billion) of which comes from engine maintenance, emerging as the fastest-expanding segment of commercial aviation maintenance at a compound annual growth rate of 3.3 percent. Narrowbody engines are expected to account for the largest share at $340 billion, followed by widebody engines at $302 billion and regional engines at $48 billion.

Engine shop-visit volumes are expected to rise accordingly, with more than 95,400 events forecast across the global fleet through 2034, driven by performance restorations, unplanned repairs, and durability upgrades. Alongside this, the industry anticipates over 49,300 life-limited-part (LLP) replacement events.

Regionally, the global engine MRO market will be led by the Asia-Pacific region, and between 2025 and 2034 it is estimated at $253 billion. This dominant share reflects the region’s expanding commercial fleets and rapid growth in air traffic (Asia-Pacific accounts for more than 40 percent of worldwide air travel), driven by fast-growing markets in China and India and substantial aircraft deliveries projected over the next decade, which increases the frequency of MRO events and highlights the need for expanded supporting infrastructure and workforce capacity to support sustained demand and avoid service bottlenecks.

Established markets in North America and Europe are valued at $137 billion and $152 billion, respectively, during the forecast period, continuing to generate demand through large, mature fleets and high utilisation rates. Africa and the Middle East together are estimated to account for $106 billion, while Latin America is valued at $43 billion, reflecting more modest growth and highlighting opportunities for increased capacity, supply-chain optimisation, and strategic investment to capture future MRO activity across regions.

Building resilience through infrastructure and partnerships

Alongside the challenges observed in the 2025 engine market, which are expected to persist, the growing global engine fleet and rising MRO demand will shape the trajectory of the commercial aviation engine market in the years ahead. In this environment, efficient maintenance operations, supported by the right infrastructure, will be essential to sustaining fleet reliability and operational efficiency. Extended maintenance cycles, higher shop-visit volumes, and life-limited-part replacements have driven engine stand utilisation to record levels, underscoring the need for careful planning and reliable infrastructure to keep fleets on schedule and maintenance workflows efficient.

Organisations that partner with reliable providers, such as EngineStands.com, are better positioned to optimise maintenance workflows, sustain high safety standards, and ensure fleet readiness. Integrating engine stand planning into long-term MRO strategies has become a critical factor for maintaining operational resilience in today’s increasingly constrained maintenance environment.

One of EngineStands.com’s clients, Jim Nypels, Engine Material Sales & Trading Specialist from Apoc Aviation, highlighted the importance of a reliable engine stand provider:

“We are extremely pleased with the service provided for our engine stand. The turnaround time was impressively fast, allowing us to keep our project on schedule. Communication throughout the process was clear, efficient, and proactive. The team demonstrated strong professionalism and attention to detail. We would gladly work with them again and highly recommend their services.”