Originally Posted by
Australopithecus
132,000 cycles? That’s barely 180 years in airline service. Pfft.
And it’s far from certain that airframes will be exhibiting signs of structural damage by then anyway. There’s a good chance that CF airframes will turn out to be “for ever” purchases.
So for some design types the sales Airbus and Boeing are delivering now might be the last ones they ever build. It’ll take some significant reason such as major efficiency improvements, size (which seems to be the factor behind these sales), or something else fundamentally desirable to prompt airlines to buy new aircraft. Otherwise refurb of fully depreciated airframes is likely to be value for money.