MRO capacity gets its own hour at NBAA-BACE. What it means for your slot

NBAA has put maintenance capacity on the BACE show floor. Its Flight Deck session on Tuesday, Oct. 20, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. will cover technician shortages, aging facilities, and consolidation, which NBAA says are making it harder to get aircraft back into service quickly. Expected speakers include Stephen Maiden, CEO at West Star Aviation, and Suresh Narayanan, CCO at Coltala Aerospace. The session is one of roughly two dozen maintenance-focused sessions NBAA has scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 20, and Wednesday, Oct. 21. Gulfstream will also hold an invitation-only Operators Forum on Oct. 21 that includes maintenance management. The MRO space has been busy in recent years and worthy of the spotlight. Greenbriar Equity Group acquired West Star from The Sterling Group in May 2025. FlyHouse bought 100% of Jets MRO in March 2026, a shop with a 40,000-square-foot facility at Dallas Executive Airport. Flexjet bought Constant Aviation in 2023 and said it planned to hire nearly 200 technicians over the following 12 months. The Retention-Downtime Link Narayanan founded Jets MRO and is now with Coltala Aerospace, which was formed in 2025 when Coltala Holdings acquired Aeroparts Group (APG). He told GlobalAir.com that experienced technicians drive on-time return to service. "Retention is the schedule," he said. When a veteran leaves, a shop loses type knowledge and hours, and a newer technician needs supervision, which pulls the best inspector off the aircraft. "The schedule slips twice," he said. The same risk sits one step down in component repair. "If that shop has lost its experienced composite and sheet metal technicians, the part sits, and the airplane waits on it," Narayanan said. Owners rarely see that part of the supply chain, he said, but their downtime depends on it. He said ownership cuts both ways. "Consolidation helps when a bigger platform can pay more and offer real career paths," he said. "It hurts when technicians feel like a line item in someone else's integration plan." His suggested question for owners is how long the people working on the airplane, and on its parts, have been there. What delays a slot, and when to book For a major inspection on a midsize jet, Narayanan said, owners should book 9 to 12 months ahead "and no less than 6." He listed the usual causes of delay: slow approval of findings on over-and-above work, parts and repair turn times, scope added late such as paint, interior or avionics, missing records or a late induction, and whether the shop and its repair vendors have the technicians they quoted. On parts, he said an approved engineered repair can turn a damaged component around "in weeks instead of waiting months for a new one." That is his estimate, and turn times vary by part and shop. Turbine repair turnaround times have been stretching, as GlobalAir.com has reported. Some shops are adding swap and rental options to cut downtime while a component is repaired, such as Duncan Aviation's new Global nose gear rental. Why it matters Shop ownership is shifting, but none of the sources in this story offered a wait time, so a new owner's name alone doesn't tell an owner how a shop will schedule a jet. That makes the owner's own planning, early booking, fast approvals, and a locked scope the part of downtime an owner controls. Browse aircraft maintenance providers on GlobalAir.com. Frequently asked questions: booking MRO capacity How far ahead should I book a major inspection on a midsize jet? Nine to 12 months ahead, and no less than six, according to Suresh Narayanan, who founded Jets MRO. NBAA says technician shortages, aging facilities and consolidation are making it harder to get aircraft back into service quickly, so early booking is the first lever an owner controls. Why does technician retention affect how long my jet is down? Experienced technicians drive on-time return to service, Narayanan says. When a veteran leaves, a shop loses type knowledge and hours, and a newer technician needs supervision, which pulls the best inspector off the aircraft. "The schedule slips twice," he said. His suggested question for owners is how long the people working on the airplane, and on its parts, have been there. What usually delays an aircraft in the shop? Narayanan lists slow approval of findings on over-and-above work, parts and repair turn times, scope added late (paint, interior or avionics), missing records or a late induction, and whether the shop and its repair vendors have the technicians they quoted. How do I keep findings from stalling a major inspection? Name a decision-maker and an approval threshold before induction, so findings don't sit waiting for a yes. Slow approval of over-and-above work is on Narayanan's list of delay causes. What should I lock down before the aircraft goes in? Lock the scope, confirm the records are complete, and keep the induction date. Late scope additions, missing records and a late induction are all on Narayanan's list of delay causes. How do parts and component repairs affect downtime? They add a wait owners rarely see. "If that shop has lost its experienced composite and sheet metal technicians, the part sits, and the airplane waits on it," Narayanan said. By his estimate, an approved engineered repair can turn a damaged component around "in weeks instead of waiting months for a new one." Turn times vary by part and shop. Ask whether the shop has repair and engineering partners lined up for parts. GlobalAir.com has covered turbine repair lead times separately. Does a new owner change how a shop schedules my jet? A new owner's name alone does not answer that. None of the sources in our reporting offered a wait time. Narayanan says consolidation helps when a bigger platform can pay more and offer real career paths, and hurts when technicians feel like a line item in someone else's integration plan. Ask the shop how its ownership affects slot priority when schedules are tight. Which maintenance shops have changed owners recently? Greenbriar Equity Group acquired West Star Aviation from The Sterling Group in May 2025. FlyHouse bought 100% of Jets MRO in March 2026, a shop with a 40,000-square-foot facility at Dallas Executive Airport. Flexjet bought Constant Aviation in 2023 and said it planned to hire nearly 200 technicians over the following 12 months. Are there ways to cut downtime besides booking early? Some shops are adding swap and rental options, such as Duncan Aviation's new Global nose gear rental. Early booking, fast approvals and a locked scope remain the parts of downtime an owner controls. Should I budget for downtime? Yes. Plan for downtime in the operating budget alongside the inspection itself. What is NBAA's MRO capacity session at BACE? "Navigating the MRO Capacity Crisis: Mergers, Partnerships and the Future of Maintenance" runs Tuesday, Oct. 20, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. on the Flight Deck. Expected speakers include Stephen Maiden of West Star Aviation and Narayanan. It is one of roughly two dozen maintenance-focused NBAA-BACE sessions on Oct. 20 and 21.