By Jay Menon
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Aug. 18, 2026, © Leeham News: When former IATA head Willie Walsh assumed charge as chief executive of IndiGo in the first week of August, he inherited the operational epicenter of the global engine supply chain crisis. Months earlier, as director general of the global airline body, Walsh had issued a stark warning to manufacturers: “Engine MRO bottlenecks are disrupting airline operations. Without significant changes, this will only get worse as the fleet of latest-generation single-aisle aircraft grows. Manufacturers are investing in additional capacity, but capacity alone will not be enough.”
Now leading the world’s largest single-aisle operator, Walsh’s mandate collides directly with the physical limits of the commercial aviation aftermarket. Across the industry, narrowbody operators face an unprecedented maintenance capacity deficit. Driven by rapid Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 Max rate production increases, annual single-aisle shop visits are projected to rise sevenfold by 2040, surpassing 5,000 for the CFM Leap family and 2,000 for the Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan (GTF).
This surge has triggered severe fleet dislocations. At the peak of P&W’s powdered-metal disk inspection campaign in March 2025, 648 narrowbodies were grounded awaiting engine slots or parts, representing 28% of the global GTF fleet. Turnaround times ballooned to 230 days for Leap overhauls and beyond 300 days for GTFs.
IndiGo’s first Airbus A321XLR delivery arrives to fanfare in early 2026. Photo credit: IndiGo/LinkedIn
These backlogs expose a clear reality: legacy Western MRO networks can no longer absorb global narrowbody demand.
Operating next-generation turbofans in high-cycle, severe weather environments has exposed systemic flaws in traditional logistics. To eliminate transit friction, OEMs are shifting to localized, mega-scale overhaul hubs, with India serving as the primary anchor.
