Why US Airlines Send Their Aircraft To Central America For Maintenance & Retrofits

[Judi Lynn]

By
Daniel S Osipov
Published 2 hours ago

A new trend has emerged in the 21st century of outsourcing maintenance work to foreign countries.

This new tactic allows the airline to save significant money on labor costs and perform the work during downtime.

While this strategy saves airlines money, these moves have raised concerns about the safety standards in these nations.


In 2019, a new hangar opened up at El Salvador International Airport. Owned by Aeroman, it was the sixth hangar that the company opened, allowing the facility to perform work on over 35 jets at the same time.

These 35 or more planes come from several prominent airlines, such as Delta Air Lines , American Airlines , JetBlue and more. Southwest Airlines doesn't even serve El Salvador from the US, yet it, too, sends its Boeing 737s across the Caribbean for heavy repair work.

While carriers still maintain their own in-house MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) units, much of the work has been unloaded to contract companies located around the world. Why has this been happening?

Lower costs

Labor in the United States is expensive. Hourly rates vary depending on carrier contracts, but an experienced AMT (Aviation Maintenance Technician) can usually find themselves earning upwards of $60 per hour. Additionally, most repair work involves numerous mechanics and takes hours or days to complete. This means that most maintenance jobs cost airlines hundreds or even thousands of dollars in people power alone.

More:
https://simpleflying.com/us-airlines-central-america-maintenance-retrofits/