Aging Fleet and Supply Chain Problems Put Pressure on Aircraft Readiness
The U.S. Air Force is facing a $14 billion shortfall in aircraft parts, according to Air Force Materiel Command commander Lt. Gen. Linda Hurry, as the service attempts to restore readiness across an increasingly old fleet.
Speaking at the 2026 Air, Space & Cyber Conference, Hurry said the number of aircraft unavailable because of supply problems has increased by 87 percent over the past seven years.
The problem is being compounded by the age of the fleet. Approximately 53 percent of Air Force aircraft are more than 30 years old, while around 55 percent have exceeded their stated useful service life, according to Hurry.
$14 Billion Supply Gap
The $14 billion figure represents the scale of the Air Force’s current aircraft-parts supply deficit. It is not a single procurement contract or a one-year budget requirement.
The service is attempting to address the gap through increased spare-parts funding, improved forecasting, additional suppliers and expanded depot capacity.
The Air Force is also using artificial-intelligence models and additive manufacturing to improve demand forecasting and accelerate the availability of selected components. Service officials are additionally pursuing longer-term contracts and multiple suppliers for critical parts to reduce dependence on single-source production.
$4.246 Billion for Aircraft Spares
The FY2027 Department of the Air Force budget request includes approximately $4.246 billion in direct funding for aircraft spares through the Consolidated Sustainment Activity Group.
Official Air Force budget documents describe the investment as an effort to replenish critical spare parts, reduce aircraft classified as Non-Mission Capable due to Supply (NMCS) and increase depot throughput. The funding is also intended to reduce the need for parts cannibalization, in which serviceable components are removed from one aircraft to return another aircraft to service.
The broader FY2027 Department of the Air Force request totals $338.8 billion, according to Air Force budget testimony.
The Maintenance Problem Goes Beyond Parts
The supply shortage is occurring alongside significant depot-maintenance challenges.
A May 2026 Government Accountability Office assessment found that delays at the Air Force’s three major aviation depots had increased considerably since fiscal year 2019. The depots maintain aircraft including the F-16 and C-17, and GAO said maintenance delays are reducing aircraft availability for both operations and training.
GAO also found that the Air Force’s existing method for measuring depot-maintenance delays can obscure the full extent of the problem because target completion dates may be revised after unplanned maintenance work is discovered or completed.
Staffing is another constraint. While the three depots have maintained at least 90 percent overall staffing since 2020, GAO identified shortages in specialized occupations such as engineers and mechanics, with competition from the private sector contributing to recruitment and retention difficulties.
Aging Aircraft Increase the Pressure
An aging fleet creates a particularly difficult sustainment cycle.
Older aircraft generally require more maintenance and can experience diminishing availability as components reach the end of their service lives. At the same time, some legacy parts become harder to source as production lines close, suppliers consolidate or original manufacturing processes become obsolete.
The Air Force is therefore attempting to solve two problems simultaneously: maintaining older aircraft while transitioning to newer platforms.
This challenge affects a wide range of aircraft across the service, including legacy fighters, bombers, transports and specialized platforms.
North Star Readiness Campaign
The Air Force has also been using targeted readiness initiatives to improve aircraft availability.
The North Star Readiness Campaign, for example, has focused on accelerating parts deliveries, engineering support and depot maintenance for the B-52 Stratofortress and B-1 Lancer bomber fleets.
Air Force Global Strike Command commander Gen. Stephen L. Davis said the campaign had increased B-52 readiness by 40 percent, attributing the improvement largely to increased access to parts and maintenance support.
What the $14 Billion Figure Means
The $14 billion figure should therefore be understood as an indication of the scale of the Air Force’s aircraft-parts supply problem, rather than as a single unfunded procurement bill.
The FY2027 $4.246 billion spare-parts investment is one major attempt to reduce that deficit, but it would not by itself eliminate the entire shortfall.
The broader solution involves:
- Increased spare-parts procurement
- Multiple suppliers for critical components
- Faster depot maintenance
- Better demand forecasting
- Additive manufacturing for selected parts
- Longer-term industrial contracts
- Improved maintenance workforce availability
- Modernization and retirement of aging aircraft
The Air Force’s challenge is ultimately one of readiness, industrial capacity and fleet age. As the service prepares for future high-end operations, having aircraft on the inventory is not enough—the aircraft must also have the parts, maintenance capacity and trained personnel required to keep them flying.
Editorial note: The 87 percent figure refers specifically to the increase in aircraft down for supply reasons over the previous seven years, according to Lt. Gen. Hurry. It does not mean that 87 percent of the entire Air Force fleet is currently grounded. Likewise, the $14 billion figure is the supply gap cited by Air Force Materiel Command leadership, while the $4.246 billion figure is the FY2027 aircraft-spares investment requested in the budget.
