Everyone in aviation is talking about landing gear shortages.
Operators are facing extended lead times, MRO shops are booked solid, and pricing remains stubbornly firm. But when you move past the headlines and look at what the data actually shows, the picture becomes more nuanced – and more interesting.
Eigirdas Keblikas, VP of Asset Trading & Leasing at Magnetic Group, spends his days tracking the metrics that reveal what's really happening in the market. And according to him, the story isn't simply "there aren't enough landing gear."
It's about timing, configuration, and a fundamental mismatch between how quickly operators need assets and how fast the market can deliver them.
The Metrics That Actually Matter
Ask most people how they assess the landing gear market and you'll get vague answers about "tight supply" or "high utilization." Eigirdas takes a different approach. He focuses on three concrete indicators that cut through industry sentiment and reveal the actual state of play.
First: the actual number of Serviceable (SV) and Overhauled (OH) landing gear shipsets currently available for each aircraft type. "This gives a clear view of short-term supply and helps explain current pricing dynamics," he explains.
"In many cases, despite healthy fleet utilization, the number of immediately available units remains limited, largely due to long overhaul turnaround times and constrained MRO capacity."
In other words, it's not enough to know that landing gear just exists somewhere. What matters is how many units are ready to go right now – and that number is often surprisingly small.
Second: the pool of As Removed (AR) landing gear that can realistically be overhauled. This is where surface-level analysis falls apart. Not every AR asset represents genuine future supply.
"We look closely at remaining life on Life Limited Parts (LLPs), configuration status, expected shop findings, and overall overhaul economics," Eigirdas says.
"This helps distinguish between assets that can return to service efficiently and those that are technically available but don’t make sense commercially."
For several aircraft types, the pool of AR units suitable for economical overhaul is significantly smaller than teardown figures might suggest. An asset on paper isn't the same as an asset that makes financial sense to bring back into service.
Third: the gap between demand and the industry's ability to replenish supply. Even where potential supply exists, limited overhaul availability and long lead times mean operators frequently need landing gear faster than the market can deliver it.
"Together, these factors continue to support firm pricing and underline why timing and asset quality are currently just as important as volume when assessing the landing gear market."
Going Beyond "Shortage" – The Real Dynamics
So if assets exist, why does availability still feel so insecure? It’s because the challenge isn't only about volume – it's about timing and quality imbalance.
"Assets exist in the market," Eigirdas explains, "but not always in the right configuration, condition, or timeframe to meet operational needs. This is why pricing remains firm and availability feels tight, even though total fleet numbers might suggest otherwise."
It's also important to recognize that supply conditions vary dramatically by aircraft type. While some platforms, like the A320, have relatively healthy availability of AR units, others face genuinely constrained markets.
Not All Aircraft Families Are Created Equal
Nowhere is this clearer than within the A320 family itself. While A320 landing gear enjoys a relatively large pool of available assets, supply for the A321 93-ton variant is far more hard to come by – a difference directly reflected in pricing and lead times.
Eigirdas explains: "These differences are largely driven by historical teardown activity. Aircraft types that have seen higher numbers of retirements and teardowns over the years naturally generate more used and AR landing gear assets, increasing overall supply.
Conversely, for variants where teardown numbers have been limited, the secondary market remains constrained, even if the active fleet is large and utilization is high."
The same pattern plays out across widebody platforms, where landing gear availability varies significantly depending on how much end-of-life material has actually been fed into the market.
Fleet size matters, but not as much as teardown history. It's the difference between theoretical supply and material that's actually available to transact on.
The Teardown Pipeline
This brings us to a longer-term concern that many operators aren't fully accounting for: the teardown pipeline for newer-generation aircraft.
Classic narrowbodies like older A320s and 737NGs have fed the market for years with landing gear and other high-value parts because they've been retired in significant numbers. But when you look at modern aircraft like the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320neo, the picture is fundamentally different.
"Those families are still relatively young in service, with strong airline demand and active utilization – so there simply aren't many of them being taken out of service and parted out yet," Eigirdas points out.
While there have been some A320neo teardowns driven by engine issues, the 737 MAX teardown pipeline remains minimal. That means the secondary market for these platforms will remain tight for the foreseeable future, with less material entering circulation to offset growing maintenance demand as fleets age.
The Pattern Operators Are Missing
If there's one emerging trend that Eigirdas believes operators are underestimating, it's this.
Capacity and turnaround time now matter as much as parts availability.
"MRO slots are constrained, turnaround times are longer, and newer aircraft are not immune because the support ecosystem is still maturing," he says. "As a result, access to shop slots and early planning have become strategic advantages. Planning is more important than ever."
This represents a fundamental shift in how operators need to think about landing gear management. It's no longer enough to assume you can find an asset or book a shop visit when you need it.
The operators who are thriving in this environment are the ones planning maintenance cycles earlier, building in buffer time, and securing access to both inventory and MRO capacity well in advance.
What This Means in Practice
Over the past year, Eigirdas and his team have navigated these exact dynamics across multiple projects – from a long-term lease and overhaul program with SpiceJet covering 14 Boeing 737-800 shipsets, to A321 outright purchases and resales, A320 exchange deals, and several new teardown initiatives currently underway.
One standout achievement: closing one of the first market transactions on an A320 Enhanced Version (EV) landing gear. "We made the decision to purchase the landing gear into stock based on our market insight and long-term experience, and successfully resold it with a solid margin," Eigirdas explains.
"This transaction clearly demonstrates how experience, timing, and confidence in market fundamentals can translate into tangible results."
It's a perfect example of what separates operators who simply react to market conditions from those who read the signals early and position themselves accordingly.
The Competitive Advantage of Better Information
The landing gear market isn't just constrained – it's a complex system where different dynamics play out across different fleet types, configurations, and timelines.
Operators who understand the real numbers – the actual availability of serviceable units, the economics of AR overhaul, the capacity constraints at MRO shops; can make better strategic decisions about maintenance planning, budgeting, and asset management.
In a market this tight, competitive advantage doesn't come from hoping conditions improve. It comes from reading the data everyone else is missing, planning earlier than your competitors, and building relationships with partners who have both the technical expertise and market intelligence to help you navigate what's ahead.
The numbers tell a story. The question is whether you're paying attention to the right ones.
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