Samwise Aeronautical Mechanics
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
JetZero Breaks Ground on 8-Million-Square-Foot Factory in North Carolina for Blended-Wing-Body Airliner
JetZero has broken ground on its first aircraft assembly facility, an 8-million-square-foot plant at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina. The factory is twice the size of Boeing’s main Everett, Washington facility, where the 747, 767, 777 and 787 were built. JetZero is investing more than $4.7 billion at the Greensboro site, which is expected to create more than 14,500 high-tech jobs and produce up to 20 aircraft per month at full capacity. The Long Beach-based company will manufacture its Z4 blended-wing-body airliner at the facility, with customer deliveries planned for the early 2030s.
Sources: Leeham News
Airbus Helicopters Targets 120 H145 Deliveries in 2026, Expanding Production to New U.S. Assembly Line
Airbus Helicopters expects to deliver approximately 120 H145 light-twin helicopters in 2026, the type’s first triple-digit annual delivery total. Production is ramping at the main Donauworth, Germany facility and at a new final assembly line in Columbus, Mississippi. The company booked 149 H145 orders in 2025, with recent contracts from Armenia, the Czech Republic, Romania and operator Avinics bolstering a strong backlog. The Airbus Helicopters chief executive described the 2026 output target as the “biggest step” for the program, with the annual rate rising from a 70-unit baseline toward the 120-unit goal.
Sources: FlightGlobal
Alaska Airlines Breaks Ground on $150 Million Widebody Maintenance Hangar at Portland International Airport
Alaska Airlines has broken ground on a $150 million widebody maintenance hangar at Portland International Airport in Oregon. The new facility will add 125,000 square feet of indoor maintenance space and approximately 60,000 square feet of offices, machine shops and support areas. The hangar is designed to accommodate up to three narrowbody or two widebody aircraft simultaneously. Construction is targeted for completion in the second quarter of 2028. The facility is expected to create more than 100 permanent jobs, with maintenance technicians projected to earn average annual salaries of approximately $120,000. The site will be built adjacent to the existing Horizon Air maintenance complex.
Sources: Aviation Pros
European Airlines Expand In-House Maintenance as Constrained MRO Capacity and Rising Costs Bite
European airlines are expanding in-house maintenance capabilities in response to constrained MRO capacity, rising material costs and unpredictable turnaround times, according to discussions at Aviation Week’s MRO BEER conference in Istanbul. Ryanair is adding a four-bay maintenance hangar at Prestwick, Scotland at a cost of £40 million and recently completed a €25 million Madrid MRO expansion. The carrier is also exploring in-house engine maintenance for its CFM56 and CFM Leap fleet, with two facility locations expected to be announced, targeting a 2029 start. TAP Air Portugal is adding hangar capacity in Porto, while LOT Polish Airlines is standardizing maintenance procedures across its fleet.
Sources: Aviation Week
FAA Confirms September Deployment for SMART Air Traffic Software, Bounded to Airspace Above 24,000 Feet
The FAA confirmed that initial deployment of its Strategic Management of Airspace Routing Trajectories (SMART) software remains on track for September 2026, structured as a bounded introduction limited to airspace at 24,000 feet and above. An FAA senior certification advisor announced the timeline at the FAA—EASA annual safety conference on June 15. Air Space Intelligence, Palantir and Thales each developed demonstration versions during the vendor competition; the FAA has not yet announced a final vendor selection. Some industry stakeholders have expressed concern that the September timeline is too aggressive, warning the pace may outrun available validation data.
Sources: Aviation Week
Analysis: Composite Materials and Fail-Safe Design Philosophy Define the Path to Next-Generation Aircraft Structures
Leeham News analyst Bjorn Fehrm has published the sixth installment of his aircraft structures series, examining composite materials and the dominance of fail-safe over safe-life structural design philosophy in modern airliners. Fail-safe, redundant architectures are now standard because accurately predicting loads on structural components remains fundamentally difficult. Composite materials currently account for approximately 50 percent of the Airbus A350’s structure by weight. Next-generation narrowbody aircraft are expected to exceed 60 percent composites and thermoplastics content, with new material formulations potentially cutting aerostructures weight 10 percent compared with previous-generation composites, or 20 to 30 percent versus aluminum-intensive designs.
Sources: Leeham News
Engine Overhaul Prices Rise Up to 50% as MRO Shop Backlogs and Parts Shortages Deepen Across Commercial Aviation
MRO shops are facing severe capacity constraints and component shortages stretching engine overhaul turnaround times and driving up costs across commercial aviation, with aftermarket engine prices rising by up to 50 percent. Demand for engine maintenance is running well ahead of available shop capacity, pushing used-serviceable-material prices higher and lengthening shop visit queues. Parts scarcity linked to global conflict has further disrupted supply chains, affecting procurement of materials and rotable components needed for maintenance checks and engine overhauls. Airlines are facing compounding cost pressures as engine scarcity limits aircraft availability and procurement flexibility.
Sources: Aviation Pros
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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