Military Aircraft Boneyards
The United States manufactured about 294,000 aircraft for WWII, and once peace was assured the military found itself with a huge surplus of aircraft.
Within a year of the end of the war, about 34,000 airplanes had been moved to 30 sales-storage depots, or "aircraft boneyards".
It was estimated a total of 117,210 aircraft would be declared surplus.
If a plane was not sold at boneyards such as those at Kingman AAF, Cal-Aero Field, and Walnut Ridge AAF, it was stripped of classified information, sliced up with guillotines, and melted in smelters into ingots.
Today, as Air Force, Navy and Marine planes become obsolete and need to be disposed of, or saved for future return to service, they are stored in the Arizona desert.
The Air Force Materiel Command's 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) operates the world's largest boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona.
... about Davis-Monthan AFB's AMARG facility
Airliner Boneyards, Storage and Parts Reclamation Facilities
Commercial airliners have limited lifespans. Some are temporarily taken off flying status, and must be stored in a environment that is conducive to preservation. Others are kept for spare parts for flying aircraft.
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To protect airliners during their storage from wind and sun damage, engines and windows are tightly covered with white, reflective materials. A sealed airliner can thus be stored safely, for years, until the time comes to return it to active duty, or salvage.
Eventually, all airliners are removed permanently from service and must be "disposed" of.
Airliner "boneyards" in the western United States serve several functions: temporary storage, maintenance, parts reclamation, and scrapping.
Airliner Storage During the COVID-19 Outbreak in 2020
As anyone that flies, has ties to the aviation industry, or watches TV knows, the worldwide outbreak of the Corona Virus has had a major negative impact on airlines and their fleets, worldwide. Hundreds of planes were being put into temporary storage.
Large Boneyards & Storage Facilities in the Western U.S.
Located in Arizona, California and New Mexico are seven major airplane boneyards, each located in dry, low-humidity desert environments and offering long runways and extensive storage areas. Shown below is a list of these boneyard facilities.
Airfield or Facility Name |
Purpose or Type |
City |
ST |
Runway Length |
| Southern California Logistics Airport - SCLA (VCV) | Commercial airliner storage, maintenance & disassembly | Victorville | CA |
15,050' |
| Davis-Monthan AFB (DMA) | Military boneyard and storage facility | Tucson | AZ |
13,643' |
| Roswell International Air Center (ROW) | Commercial airliner storage, maintenance & disassembly | Roswell | NM |
13,001' |
| Mojave Air and Space Port (MHV) | Commercial airliner storage, maintenance & disassembly | Mojave | CA |
12,503' |
| Phoenix Goodyear Airport (GYR) | Commercial airliner storage and maintenance | Phoenix | AZ |
8,500' |
| Pinal County Airpark (MZJ) | Commercial airliner storage, maintenance & disassembly | Marana | AZ |
6,849' |
| Kingman Airport (IGM) | Commercial airliner storage and maintenance | Kingman | AZ |
6,827' |
| Coolidge Airport (P08) | Commercial airliner storage and disassembly | Coolidge | AZ |
5,564' |
List of Aircraft Storage Facilities and Parts Reclamation Sites in the United States (By State)
Airfield or Facility Name |
Purpose or Type |
City |
ST |
| Arkansas International Airport (BYH) | Aviation Repair Technologies (ART) operates a facility in Blytheville for aircraft heavy maintenance, short-term aircraft storage, and aircraft disassembly. | Blytheville | AR |
| Stuttgart Municipal Airport (SGT) | Airliner storage and disassembly by CAVU Aerospace | Stuttgart | AR |
| Kingman Airport (IGM) | Commercial airliner storage and maintenance | Kingman | AZ |
| Pinal Airark (MZJ) | Commercial airliner storage, maintenance & disassembly | Marana | AZ |
| Phoenix Goodyear Airport (GYR) | Commercial airliner storage and maintenance | Phoenix | AZ |
| Davis-Monthan AMARG | Military boneyard and storage facility | Tucson | AZ |
| Mojave Air and Space Port (MHV) | Commercial airliner storage, maintenance & disassembly | Mojave | CA |
| San Bernardino Intl Airport (SBD) | Commercial airliner storage, maintenance & disassembly | San Bernardino | CA |
| Southern California Logistics Airport (VCV) | Commercial airliner storage, maintenance & disassembly | Victorville | CA |
| Bob Sikes Airport (CEW) | Airliner acquisition and parts reclamation facility operated by Qwest Air Parts, Inc. | Crestview | FL |
| Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB) | Airliner storage and reclamation facility operated by Avocet MRO Services, Inc., including MRO services, engine services, transition & lease return and aircraft disassembly. | Sanford | FL |
| Dodson International | General aviation aircraft & helicopter salvage and parts reclamation/sales | Rantoul | KS |
| Aberdeen Proving Ground | Helicopter and miscellaneous military aircraft storage | Aberdeen | MD |
| Greenwood-Leflore Airport (GWO) | Commercial airliner reclamation for airlines such as Iberia, FedEx, Southwest, United, China Southern, and others. 125 miles south of Memphis, TN | Greenwood | MS |
| Tupelo Regional Airport (TUP) | Commercial airliner storage and parts reclamation by Universal Asset Management | Tupelo | MS |
| Harry S Truman Regional Airport | General aviation airplane storage and parts reclamation by White Industries Inc | Bates City | MO |
| Laurinburg-Maxton Airport (MEB) | This small airport is located about two hours southeast of Charlotte. Commercial airliner storage and parts reclamation by Charlotte Aircraft Corporation | Laurinburg | NC |
| Roswell International Air Center (ROW) | Commercial airliner storage, maintenance & disassembly | Roswell | NM |
| Hondo Aerospace LLC | The company specializes in aircraft storage and green harvesting of aircraft parts, components, and engines. It also has concrete storage parking for narrow body aircraft. | Hondo | TX |
| Other U.S. Locations with Aircraft Storage or Reclamation Activities | |||
| Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) | Variety of prop-based cargo planes such as DC-6B, C-118, C-46, Convair C-131 and others. Operated by Everts Air Cargo. Photos by Ruud Leeuw | Fairbanks | AK |
| Buckeye Municipal Airport | PA-31 aircraft storage | Buckeye | AZ |
| Falcon Field | Airplane storage and parts reclamation | Mesa | AZ |
| Tucson International Airport (TUS) | Airliner storage and reclamation | Tucson | AZ |
| William J. Fox Airport | Storage location for fire-fighting tanker aircraft | Lancaster | CA |
| Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport | Airliner storage | Opa Locka | FL |
| Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport | Airliner operations, storage, training, maintenance, repair and reclamation by Kalitta Air LLC. Located at the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base. Kalitta Air is a Michigan Limited Liability Company owned solely by Conrad Kalitta. Kalitta Air began service in November of 2000 with three Boeing 747 aircraft and the fleet has grown to over 25 planes, comprised of 777 freighters and B747-400 freighters. The company is capable of air express delivery of virtually any type of freight, the company provides scheduled or on-demand charter service for customers in the United States and around the world. | Oscoda | MI |
| Wilmington Airpark | Commercial airliner parts reclamation | Wilmington | OH |
| Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport | Aircraft storage | Smyrna | TN |
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Other Inactive or Abandoned U.S. Aircraft Boneyards
Airfield or Facility Name |
Purpose or Type |
City |
ST |
| St. Augustine Airport | Until about 2010, a storage facility for U.S. Navy Grumman S-2 Tracker aircraft. Latest reports indicate no aircraft are stored here. | St. Augustine | FL |
| El Paso County | Small abandoned boneyard. details at LostDestinations | El Paso | TX |
| China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station | Not accessible to the public. Former storage location for numerous B-29 Superfortresses to be used for weapons testing. | Ridgecrest | CA |
Major Airplane Boneyards Around the World
Huge fleets of surplus aircraft are stored in boneyards in the United States, but also around the world in England, Australia, Spain, France, Russia, South Africa and elsewhere.
Storage facilities such as the apron Aerosave operation at the Teruel Airport in Eastern Spain and Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage (APAS) at Alice Springs in Australia are designed to store and salvage large numbers of airliners.
Airfield or Facility Name |
Purpose or Type |
Country |
| Alice Springs Airport | Stage one of the multi-million dollar Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage (APAS) covers about 10 hectares and includes two access roads, a maintenance shed, a hard-stand area for up to 25 planes. | Australia |
| Twente Airport | Various airliner storage, disassembly and parts reclamation industries including Aircraft End-of-Life Solutions (AELS) | Netherlands |
| Teruel Airport | Operated by TARMAC Aerosave, this is the largest airliner storage facility in Europe, designed to handle 250 large aircraft. | Spain |
| Cotswold Airport | Air Salvage International (ASI) is one of Europe’s leading airliner storage and maintenance facilities. At Kemble-Cotswold Airport, it has secure parking for in excess of 20 wide and up to 50 narrow bodied commercial aircraft. | United Kingdom |
| Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees Airport | It mainly handles scheduled and charter flights from a variety of airlines across Europe. The airport has sufficient capabilities to handle large aircraft such as the Boeing 747. Facility is operated by TARMAC Aerosave. | France |
| Ireland West Airport Knock | Aircraft dismantling facility operated by Eirtrade Aviation. Projects include parts reclamation and scrapping of four Air France Airbus A380 airliners. Ex-Air France A380 F-HPJB (MSN 40, first fight 02/06/2009) arrived at Knock on February 20, 2020. | Ireland |
| St. Athan Airfield | eCube Solutions employs over 100 staff at the St. Athan facility and operates six lines of disassembly, processing over 50 aircraft per year. Parking is available at St. Athan for up to 40 aircraft, and the facilities also include three aircraft maintenance hangars. |
Wales |
| O. R. Tambo International Airport | Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport is the busiest passenger airport on the continent of Africa and is situated in the Kempton Park district of Johannesburg, 23 km north-west of the city centre and 46 km south of Pretoria city centre. In addition to its major significance as an international passenger airport, it is also home for a variety of aviation related businesses engaged in aircraft maintenance, leasing, training and storage. |
South Africa |
View of airliners in storage at the Tarmac Aerosave facility at the Teruel Airport in Spain (photo courtesy of Tarmac Aerosave) |
Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage at Alice Springs Airport in Australia (photo courtesy of APAS) |
Map of locations of active and post-WWII airplane boneyards and plane storage facilities in the United States and around the world
|
Airfield or Facility Name |
Purpose or Type |
City |
ST |
| Kingman Army Air Field | Short-term storage & aircraft disposal | Kingman | AZ |
| Walnut Ridge Army Air Field | Short-term storage & aircraft disposal | Walnut Ridge | AR |
| Cal-Aero Field and Ontario Depot | Short-term storage & aircraft disposal | Chino | CA |
| Altus Army Air Field | Short-term storage & aircraft disposal | Altus | OK |
| Clinton Naval Air Station | Short-term storage & aircraft disposal | Clinton | OK |
| Albuquerque Army Air Field | Short-term storage & aircraft disposal | Albuquerque | NM |
| Victory Field | Short-term storage & aircraft disposal | Vernon | TX |
| Davis-Monthan AFB | Long-term storage | Tucson | AZ |
| Pyote Army Air Field | Long-term storage | Pyote | TX |
| Victorville Army Air Field | Long-term storage | Victorville | CA |
| Warner Robins Army Air Depot | Long-term storage | Robins | GA |