Spirit Airlines' Brand-New Jets Are Being Scrapped for Parts and That Tells You Everything

Two A320neos barely four years old are being torn apart in an Arizona desert, making them the youngest next-generation airframes ever dismantled

Two Airbus A320neo aircraft that were flying Spirit Airlines passengers just months ago are now being stripped for parts at a facility in Goodyear, Arizona. The jets are three-and-a-half and four years old respectively — making them the youngest A320neo airframes ever to be scrapped. It is a stark illustration of just how far the once-brash ultra-low-cost carrier has fallen, and of the strange economics now distorting the global aviation parts market.

Irish asset management firm EirTrade Aviation, in partnership with Chicago-based lessor RESIDCO, acquired the two aircraft and announced the teardown on Monday. The components — including the high-value Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines — will be shipped to EirTrade's Dallas hub and made available to operators worldwide before the end of March.

The numbers explain why brand-new jets are worth more dead than alive. There are currently more than 4,400 A320neos in commercial service globally, with another 7,200 on order.

Add in the 6,500 older A320ceos that share many of the same parts, and the addressable market for used serviceable material is enormous. Meanwhile, Pratt & Whitney's well-documented GTF engine defects — involving contaminated powdered metal in turbine disks — have grounded hundreds of aircraft and created turnaround times stretching beyond 300 days for repairs. The result is a parts market where near-new components command premium prices that exceed the residual value of the whole aircraft.

For Spirit, the teardowns are a symptom of a broader liquidation play. The carrier, which entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in August 2025, has sought court approval to reject leases on 87 A320-family jets and is now moving to auction a further 20 aircraft with a stalking horse bid of $533.5 million. The airline has recalled 500 flight attendants ahead of spring break, but its long-term survival remains an open question.

The image of nearly new jets being dismantled in a desert yard will resonate across the industry. It signals not just the decline of one airline, but a broader dislocation in which financial distress, manufacturing defects and surging parts demand have collided to create a market where scrapping brand-new aircraft makes cold economic sense.