Ontic, a company that specializes in supporting older aircraft that OEMs would rather move beyond, is expanding its MRO footprint as it works to support aging fleets, using a newly launched teardown program to improve parts availability for operators.
The company said this week at MRO Americas 2026 in Orlando that it has launched a teardown effort aimed at recovering hard-to-find components from retired aircraft and putting them back into service through its repair and overhaul network.
Andre op’t Hof, Commercial Director, MRO North America at Ontic, said the program is part of a broader push to grow the company’s repair business as demand rises for long-term support of legacy aircraft.
“The biggest development really was the setting of two new dedicated MRO facilities within Ontic,” op’t Hof said in an interview. “That has been a major undertaking.”
One of those sites is a new 65,000-square-foot facility in Miramar, Florida, which Ontic said is already operational and ramping up capacity. A second dedicated MRO facility is under development in Tewkesbury, UK, and is expected to open toward the end of 2026, op’t Hof said.
Ontic has long operated through a business model built around acquiring intellectual property and OEM licenses for aerospace products from larger manufacturers, then continuing to produce, repair and support those parts over the long term.
In recent years, op’t Hof said, more of those acquired product lines have come with sizable repair requirements, making MRO a bigger part of the business.
That shift, he said, drove the decision to move repair work out of mixed production sites and into dedicated MRO facilities with their own supply chain, customer service and operating structure.
The teardown program reflects the same strategy.
Ontic said the first aircraft processed through the program is a former Thai Airways Boeing 747-400. The company said the teardown yielded a range of components for its repair pipeline, including actuators, valves, gearbox ball screw assemblies and brake lock mechanisms.
Aaron Smith, Director, AOG & Exchange at Ontic, said the goal is to secure inventory before operators face critical shortages.
“Parts availability for established platforms isn’t something operators should have to lose sleep over,” Smith said. “Our job is to stay ahead of the problem [by] identifying assets, securing inventory, and doing the engineering work to bring components back to flight-ready standard before our customers need them.”
The company said each component in the program goes through technical and regulatory review, with traceability established from removal through return to service, including time and cycle data, certified documentation, inspection and overhaul.
Op’t Hof said demand for that capability has created opportunities for Ontic, particularly as large OEMs look to free up engineering resources, factory space and management attention for newer programs while still meeting obligations to existing customers.
Ontic now has about 1,900 employees and continues to grow through license acquisitions and expanded repair capabilities. Op’t Hof said the company also sees room for additional MRO growth beyond Miramar and Tewkesbury, including possible future expansion in the Asia-Pacific region.
