Duncan Aviation adds a rental nose gear to keep Globals flying

Landing gear tends to receive far less attention than engines or avionics when evaluating an aircraft, but for large-cabin aircraft in particular, it can become a significant ownership event when service is required. Hard landings, over-toe events and scheduled landing gear overhauls can remove an aircraft from service for extended periods. For operators of Global aircraft, the uncertainty comes from how long the aircraft remains unavailable. That is the problem Duncan Aviation is trying to solve. Duncan announced a new nose landing gear rental option designed to support operators of Bombardier Global aircraft during maintenance. The rental is available for several Global models, including the 5000, 5000 GVFD, 5500, 6000, 6500, Express and Express XRS. The company is positioning the rental gear as a way to reduce AOG (aircraft-on-ground) downtime by enabling operators to return aircraft to service while the original gear is being repaired. "Having a rental gear available gives customers another option when their aircraft needs landing gear maintenance," said Sasha Orth, Duncan Aviation landing gear sales representative. "They can continue flying while our team focuses on returning their gear to service." Timely AOG support is a differentiator in aviation maintenance. The ability to turn an aircraft around in a timely manner is especially important when an aircraft is grounded unexpectedly, which affects charter revenue, owner utilization, operational flexibility and resale readiness. Why it mattersThe rental reflects a broader shift in business aviation maintenance strategy. Operators are increasingly willing to spend money not just on maintenance itself, but on avoiding the operational disruption that comes with downtime. Fittingly, MROs are increasingly offering swap and rental programs to support fast turnarounds, as Blackhawk did in September with its PT6A engine exchange. As business jet flight activity remains above last year's levels and maintenance schedules become more complex, services that preserve availability are becoming increasingly valuable. In that environment, the ability to keep an aircraft flying may be just as important as the ability to repair it. Browse current Bombardier Global listings on GlobalAir.com.