Top Secrets of What Happens to Old Aircraft, The 6 Steps Handling Process

What Happens to Old Aircraft?

Nothing lasts forever, not even the magnificent flying machines known as aircraft. To know what happens to old Aircraft understand that Old aircraft may lose their airworthiness, or even just their desirability in the eyes of their operators as newer and more sophisticated aircraft are constantly being developed.

But you probably haven’t seen an abandoned aircraft anywhere around you, so you may have wondered “where do these planes go?!”

In this article, I will talk about the following:

• Aircraft’s journey to being disposed of.
• How aircraft are handled at graveyards.
• The aircraft that don’t make it to graveyards.

The Journey to Being Disposed

When aircraft have reached the end of their service life, or are simply no longer needed by their operators, they are tossed in aircraft graveyards or boneyards – these are usually deserts. There are several graveyard facilities across the US (the largest in number), Europe, and Australia. The largest graveyard in the world, Davis-MonthanAirforce Boneyard in Arizona, houses about 4,000 military aircraft.

Aircraft usually reach the end of their service life between 20-30 years, depending on how many flight cycles the aircraft has undertaken. Aircraft manufacturers often rate aircraft in terms of flight (/pressurization) cycles. For example, the jumbo-size Boeing 747 aircraft is rated at 35,000 flight cycles which are approximately 135,000 – 165,000 flight hours, while the Airbus A320 is rated at 60,000 flight cycles. According to Mark Gregory, the MD of an air services firm, the average age of aircraft his company has scrapped is 18 years old.

Some aircraft manufacturers, like Airbus, offer service life extensions, whereby they upgrade some parts of the aircraft in order to increase the number of flight hours the aircraft can undertake. However, this is a rather expensive service, so most aircraft operators may opt not to make use of it.

 A flight cycle is a total journey between take-off and landing, the phases of flight that impose the most stress on the airframe. An aircraft might become in an unserviceable condition much before 20 years if it undergoes an abnormal amount of flight cycles. This is why short-range aircraft tend to age faster. For example, the Aloha Airlines Flight 243 accident involved a plane that was well within its service life (by years) but had undergone several short flight cycles within the Hawaii region. The metal fatigue was so bad that the roof tore away from the aircraft mid-air!

When the aircraft reaches half of its lifespan, the ultimate question to ask before deciding to dismantle an aircraft is this:

“Is the value of the aircraft’s distinct parts more than the value of the aircraft as a flying machine?”

If that is the case, the aircraft will be dismantled and sold for parts. This will be determined after a thorough valuation analysis is carried out on the aircraft and its parts. If the aircraft is still valuable enough to be sold in its whole form, its operator might opt to trade it in for a newer, more efficient aircraft. The older aircraft may then serve as transport category aircraft or be fit to use in countries with less stringent airworthiness requirements.

At graveyards, aircraft can…

• Be salvaged for parts that can be used in other planes.

The global market for second-hand components and parts is estimated to be worth about $6 billion. These parts must be properly tracked and accounted for, so as to weed out the counterfeit parts in the market. The issue of counterfeit parts being sold to aircraft operators is becoming more rampant and can prove catastrophic for the safety of flight. It is believed that about 2% of parts in the market are counterfeit. This is a dangerous figure, considering how many parts there are in the market.

• Be broken down for scraps that are recycled in plane manufacturing, or manufacturing of other objects.

The scrap value of the fuselage of a Boeing 747 aircraft is said to be about $35,000. This is still a significant value, however, it pales in comparison to the hundreds of millions of dollars a new 747 costs.

Be temporarily stored while awaiting return to service.

The aircraft might be parked there due to airline bankruptcy, economic reasons, fuel price hikes, and so on. Once such issues are resolved, the airline/operator may reclaim the aircraft. The aircraft engines and windows are tightly covered with white reflective materials to protect them from wind and sun damage while they are being stored. The tires are also dressed up in Mylar to prevent deterioration.

Undergo maintenance and overhaul.

A graveyard is a much cheaper place to store unused planes as it is not warm and dry. The latter condition affects the plane parts more, thus requiring additional maintenance.

How Aircraft Are Handled at Graveyards

The steps for taking apart an airliner (commercial aircraft) when it gets to a graveyard are:

1. Removal of toxic or radioactive materials or fluids: These include fuels, hydraulic fluids, oils, de-icing liquids, batteries, etc. The planes are first cleaned to remove any salt that could cause corrosion. Fuels are removed from the tanks by draining them and flushing the tanks with lubricant.
2. The aircraft engine may be sold whole or in parts: The engines take up more than half the value of aircraft. A single-engine could have been on 50 aircraft at the end of its service life.
3. Avionics and electronics parts are removed: Some, like electronic bits, black boxes, and computers may still be useful, so they can be resold.
4. Some other valuable parts such as flight controls, landing gears, and doors may be removed and sold as well. These parts can individually cost up to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on their age. Hundreds of components may be removed from a single plane.
5. Stripping the aircraft of metals: Tonnes of copper, aluminum, magnesium, titanium, and stainless steel can be stripped and sold for significant value.
6. What’s left of the aircraft is then sent to the shredder: The shredding process allows approximately 85-89% of airliners to be recycled.

However, some planes might not be sent to a shredder, so they can be used for filmmaking, training for aviation personnel, or even recreation spots. Quite a number of people have converted old planes into restaurants and hotels all over the world. Buying these airplanes at scrap value is incredibly cheap; it’s just the cost of refurbishing the planes for other purposes that may come to a lot. Some have even resorted to repurposing some old aircraft parts into themed upscale furniture.

The Planes that Don’t Make it to the Graveyard

Some aircraft operators may just opt to abandon their aircraft at airports, rather than taking them to graveyards. As of 2019, it was estimated that the cost of moving a single plane for it to be scrapped was over $66,000. In the wake of various financial crises over the years, bankrupt airlines and private operators have thought abandonment to be the only feasible option.

Such aircraft operators also refuse to claim the aircraft, as doing so will mean they have to pay significant landing fees. For example, one MD-87 aircraft at an airport in Spain has accumulated over $220 million in parking fees.

If after a set number of years, no one claims the aircraft, they become public property and can be auctioned off by the authorities.

The process before the aircraft can actually be auctioned is quite lengthy. First, the authorities have to make sure the owner will not come back to claim the aircraft. This requires searching through the records to find the original owner and see if they have a successor, or if anyone is legally

If there is no one to claim the plane, it can then be sold. Some planes might be too poor in condition to be sold whole, so they could be auctioned for parts instead. responsible for the aircraft.

Planes that are not claimed at auctions may then be sold in museums, aviation training centers, aerospace engineering departments at universities, or emergency departments, where they can be used for educational purposes.

References

• YouTube, 2021. What Happens to Old Planes. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8Uu_8lVT00> [Accessed 16 August 2022].
• Ros, M., 2018. What happens to planes when they are retired?. [online] CNN. Available at: <https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/planes-retired-what-happens/index.html> [Accessed 16 August 2022].
• Pande, P., 2020. Why Pressurization Cycles Matter In An Aircraft’s Lifespan. [online] Simple Flying. Available at: <https://simpleflying.com/pressurization-cycles-aircraft-lifespan/> [Accessed 16 August 2022].
• Kalvaitis, D., 2016. Did You Know What Happens When the Plane Reaches Its Retirement Age? – BAA Training. [online] BAA Training. Available at: <https://www.baatraining.com/did-you-know-what-happens-when-the-plane-reaches-its-retirement-age/> [Accessed 16 August 2022].
• Flexport. n.d. How Are Planes Decommissioned, and How Much Value Can Be Salvaged From Their Parts?. [online] Available at: <https://www.flexport.com/blog/decommissioned-planes-salvage-value/> [Accessed 16 August 2022].
• Derrick, E., 2019. Spain Has An Abandoned Aircraft Problem – Here’s Why. [online] Simple Flying. Available at: <https://simpleflying.com/spain-abandoned-aircraft-problem/> [Accessed 16 August 2022].
• Brown, H., 2022. [online] Euronews Travel. Available at: <https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/06/13/what-happens-to-old-aeroplanes-here-are-some-of-the-ways-airline-waste-is-being-upcycled> [Accessed 16 August 2022].
• Airplaneboneyards.com. n.d. Aircraft Disassembly & Scrapping. [online] Available at: <https://www.airplaneboneyards.com/airplane-boneyard-reclamation-disassembly-scrapping.htm> [Accessed 16 August 2022].