Archive for category: In the News

By Vinod Sreeharsha
May 11, 2026

Like much of the world, Donald “Dean” Zoellers learned of Spirit Airlines’ demise on the morning of May 2. He was hit hard, certainly more than travelers who loved the Broward-based carrier’s low prices or bright yellow planes. The 63-year-old grandfather of seven worked as a maintenance controller, managing airline maintenance technicians at Orlando International Airport.

He’d just put in a full week of making sure planes were safe, and fixing those that weren’t. And he was looking forward to the weekend at his home in St. Cloud, a city of just over 60,000 near Orlando. He previously worked for the company in Miramar. Around 7 a.m., he read his emails and saw one from his long-time employer abruptly informing him that they’d eliminated his main source of income. Something else ended for Zoellers and his wife that day: health insurance.

His wife, Lydia. 63, has Parkinson’s disease and her medicines will now cost them about $6,000 a month, he said. He has no idea how he’ll be able to pay for that when her current supply runs out in six weeks. She needs regular blood tests, too, and he’s uncertain how he’ll afford them. The couple are now looking at other healthcare options. If only he could cash in the 700 hours of sick pay he amassed while working at Spirit, or all the vacation days he never took. He lost those, too. At this point, he’s not even sure he’ll get paid for his last week of work.

Zoellers is one of about 17,000 people who lost their jobs when the airline collapsed. More than 2,500 of them were based at Fort Lauderdale-International Airport. Beyond the difficulties individual workers now face, the South Florida economy is expected to take a hit. Donald “Dean” Zoellers Zoellers thinks he has enough savings for him and his wife to get by for one more month, maybe two, if they really tighten their belts, he told the Miami Herald on May 2. Six days later, the couple had already canceled their cable TV and started redoing their grocery list.

“We’ll have to go back to eating ramen noodles,” Zoellers said. They also weren’t sure if they could stay in the home they’ve owned for five years. As travelers nationwide lamented losing the ability to travel to places on the cheap, Zoellers worried he and his wife might not be able to fulfill their wish — to stay put where they had built roots. For now, he said, “we’re going to cut every expense we can.”

The death of Spirit happened more than a week ago, but the effects are just starting to take shape for workers and travelers. Customers lost tickets and frequent flier miles while thousands of Spirit employees lost their jobs and benefits. That means less consumer spending in the neighborhoods and cities where the former employees live, according to legal, economics and bankruptcy experts. That could lead to cutting back on certain items at the grocery store, reducing visits to restaurants and buying clothes less frequently.

“It’s going to be terrible for the region,” said Joseph Smith, aviation director at Miami-based investment bank and financial advisory firm Cassel, Salpeter & Co., referring to Spirit’s demise. “There’s going to be aggregate effects in the economy,” said attorney Shawn Hogue, a commercial law expert with Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP. “They likely will find jobs that don’t pay as well.”

Many other questions remain. How does the Fort Lauderdale airport fill a gaping void in flights, counter space and gates? What happens to the 2-year-old headquarters building in Dania Beach? Will travelers pay more for airline tickets? “Spirit was a South Florida airline,” Hogue said. “South Florida is going to have to pay the bills.”

One group that may be in better shape than the rest: the hundreds of vendors that did business with Spirit. Many of them took legal action to get partially paid, and tightened the ways to get paid as Spirit got deeper in financial trouble. Spirit had more than 25,000 creditors. When the second bankruptcy was filed, the first two of the airline’s top 30 creditors were the U.S. government and an independent advertising firm in Knoxville, Tennessee. Spirit owes the Department of Treasury $136 million in an unsecured loan obtained during COVID-19. And the airline owes Charles Tombras Advertising $7.8 million. That’s nearly 7% of their 2025 revenue of $118 million, according to one report. The agency, founded in 1946, is in its third-generation of family leadership.

Spirit owes Lufthansa Technik, the technical services arm of Lufthansa, $5.7 million. The airline owes the Broward County Aviation, the public department that runs the Fort Lauderdale airport, $1 million.

Then there’s the Avenger Flight Group. Avenger, an aviation tech company was founded in Fort Lauderdale in 2013 and then expanded globally. The firm developed a flight simulator for pilots to use in training and had an office adjacent to Spirit’s headquarters while focused on training pilots at low-cost airlines. In February 2026, Avenger filed for bankruptcy protection in a Delaware federal court. The company cited several factors for its struggles, but one was depending on Spirit as a customer.

<“Spirit was one of the reasons,” for the bankruptcy filing, Smith said. “A lot of unsecured vendors who’ve been working with Spirit are going to be out of luck.” Still, given the large number of vendors, most will emerge OK, he and other bankruptcy experts said. “I don’t think there’s any crazy exposure,” Smith said. He noted that many vendors had been more strict with payment conditions in dealing with Spirit since their troubles started. “It’s not like this is a sudden thing.”

Tell that to many of Spirit’s former employees. They remain the hardest hit.

As far as what to do next, Dean Zoellers is aware of the community job fairs and the overtures of other airlines to former Spirit employees. But he’s not optimistic about landing another job, even with his skills. He’s turning 64 later this month. “Who the hell is going to hire me?” he said. Zoellers went from high school to spending a year and a half at a technical school and junior college where he learned how to be an aviation maintenance technician. Then he started his career, interrupted only by serving six years in the U.S. Navy. Zoellers’ most recent position at Spirit was a supervisor in maintenance control, and had multiple aviation technicians working under him. He worked 12-hour shifts. “It was very stressful and fast-paced,” he said. Yet, “there was a sense of community.”

When a new colleague arrived who had a child with autism, Zoellers offered to work the night shift so his colleague could be there for his child during the day as the family adjusted to a new place. Other former Spirit employees, including ones in different positions, share Zoeller’s doubts and predicament.

Eric Tirado worked as a Spirit flight attendant for 24 years until May 1. The 67-year-old who worked out of FLL said he had planned to retire in three years. “Spirit just kind of sped up the process,” he said. Yet, the thought of being without the work he knew, or not finding something else, haunts him. Getting by the next few months will be difficult, he said. “I gave a lot of my life” to the company.

“It’s really difficult when so many working people across this country identify who they are with their jobs,” said Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO, the union that represents flight attendants. “To have that ripped away instantly is completely disorienting.”

That’s how walking around Spirit headquarters on May 4 felt, several hours after the hundreds of employees who had gathered here had left, and it was evident of what more could come. Broward County commissioners are considering buying Spirit’s headquarters and converting it into theirs. The idea is on the agenda for the May 12 meeting, although there won’t be a vote, Broward County Mayor Mark Bogen said in an interview with the Miami Herald. Broward County has been looking for a new building for several years.

The Dania Pointe headquarters wasn’t just where thousands worked. Many employees went there for layovers or flew in for company meetings.

Amy Drinkhouse worked as a flight attendant at Spirit for over 25 years, starting in Feb. February 2001. She kept her job through 9/11, the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. She started her career in Atlantic City, then worked out of FLL and finally, was based out of Orlando. She spent a lot of time in the Fort Lauderdale area. “There’s going to be a big impact on the economy” from Spirit’s absence, she said.

And that could mean the economy surrounding the former Spirit headquarters, just off Interstate 95 and Stirling Road. A Marriott hotel stands across the main entrance of Spirit at Dania Pointe, a development with stores, restaurants and apartments. While guests stayed there, employees ate lunch at the bar. A chain coffeehouse, Crema Gourmet, drew workers just steps from the office building. Even some of the rental apartments in the area housed Spirit workers. “We all eat here on a regular basis,” Drinkhouse said of the half-dozen restaurants in walking distance from Spirit’s lobby. “Those dollars are gone.”

Complexes of corporate housing were built here, too, to house the flight attendants who stayed here between flights. All Spirit flight attendants spent their layovers here, said Drinkhouse, “so we’d go out and spend our dollars here.”

Then there are the pilots. There were 3,500 before the restructuring process started. All came to town at least once a year for an annual meeting. One building next to the main building at Spirit housed a flight simulator used for training. Pilots trained there almost every day, said Reid Mitchell, a 39 years-old first officer at the carrier until May 2. Pilots on layovers would stay at hotels throughout the Fort Lauderdale area, eat at restaurants nearby and take transportation to get around. “Hundreds of pilots would come through every day,” he said.

That’s largely due to the importance FLL gave Spirit. It’s now vulnerable after its hometown airline went under. Spirit Airlines provided FLL more passengers than any other airline did, accounting for 28% of its passengers in 2025. FLL saw the most Spirit flights that year, about 29,000, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Orlando International Airport was second. Few U.S. airports came anywhere close to either one.

Broward Mayor Bogen said he does expect negative consequences over the next few months, particularly in job loss and the concessions in Terminal 4, where Spirit used about two-thirds of 14 gates and Jamaican and Cuban eateries served hungry travelers. But he thinks things will turn around. “There’s an impact today … and it will last up to six months,” Bogen said.” “But, it will not be long-term.”

Not only had Spirit flights been decreasing the past few years, but “since the [Spirit] closure, we’ve gotten phone calls from other airlines to do more flights,” said the mayor. “The vacuum left by Spirit will be taken up by other airlines.” Bogen is especially bullish on JetBlue, which after Spirit went down added 11 flights to FLL. While filling Spirit’s void won’t be easy, there are some figures that back up his assessment. Spirit’s numbers had been falling long before May. In 2024, the airline provided FLL with 31.4% of its passengers. So, in the last year, the carrier’s market share there had already dropped significantly. That trend has continued into this year. In the first three months of 2026, Spirit was still in first place, but it was down to 24.5% of passengers at FLL. Notably, JetBlue, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines all increased the percentage of passengers. Allegiant did as well while Frontier shot up 114% compared to the same period one year earlier, the largest percentage increase. “There’s going to be a scramble for Spirit real estate, especially at FLL” said Jay Shabat, co-founder of Airline Weekly and senior analyst with travel publication Skift.

“There may be a short-term hit to traffic,” he said in an interview with the Miami Herald, “but this is not an existential threat for FLL.” Still, one of the carriers thought to fill Spirit’s void has some doubters. Shabat says, “I’m very concerned about the future of JetBlue.” JetBlue hasn’t made a profit in six years. Their loyalty program has struggled. And now together with other carriers it faces higher fuel prices. “They’re not going to go bankrupt tomorrow, but they are definitely in financial distress,” Shabat said.

That’s something to which South Florida can relate. After all, Spirit’s demise is “another local tragedy in a long line of South Florida airlines,” said Smith, the aviation director at investment bank Cassel, Salpeter & Co. From Air Florida to National to Eastern and others, “seems like we keep getting hammered with airlines based here not being able to make it,” he added.

Dean Zoellers can relate. He has been doing some thinking. A few days after expressing no hope he could find another job, he sounded slightly less down. “I’d like to find something here,” he said. “Gotta find a job.” They’ve owned their home for five years. He’d like to keep it even if they move and have to rent another place somewhere else. But he’s doubtful he’ll make enough money to do both. “I’d like to be able to keep the house, but I don’t think that’ll happen. I’m 90% sure we’ll have to move somewhere else.”

His wife, who has limited mobility, will have a hard time moving. She’ll also have to find new doctors. Their adult son lives in Seattle and is in the U.S. Air Force. An adult daughter lives in Calgary, and a flight attendant for Air Canada. Zoellers says his children are arguing over which one can put them up: They both want to. But Zoellers says he and his wife don’t want to stay with either one. They want to continue to be independent.

“We’re just not done yet” with the adventure of life, said Zoellers. “We’ve been punched in the gut before.” Consider his past work experiences. He was at Lockheed in San Bernardino, California. It closed. He was also at Miami-based Eastern Airlines. He was an AMT on end line maintenance based in Atlanta. He worked at Eastern until the very end, in 1991. After he was let go, a court hired him and others back briefly to help the company get rid of their airplanes. It’s a complicated process because the engines often get switched around. So what’s next? Something, he says for now. There has to be something. “It’s going to be a lot tougher, but I’m hoping we can do it.”

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April 10, 2026

The aviation maintenance sector has seen rapid growth in demand in recent years. From aging fleets to parts and labor shortages, there are several factors contributing to this rising demand, and many ways MROs can respond.

On this episode of the Aviation Pros Podcast, we speak with Joey Smith, aviation director at Cassel Salpeter & Co., about what’s driving growth in the global MRO market and how maintenance organizations can take advantage of the opportunities available, with a special focus on mergers and acquisitions.

See Full Podcast

By Lindsay Bjerregaard and James Pozzi
April 01, 2026

The aftermarket in Florida is experiencing accelerated growth as MRO players in the state complete mergers and acquisitions, add new capabilities and open new or expanded facilities.

Florida has more than 2,000 aviation businesses and 125 public-use airports, according to the state’s international commerce organization, SelectFlorida. Much of this activity is concentrated in South Florida, with companies that have established presences near Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

In its recently released aviation investment banking report, Cassel Salpeter & Co. described South Florida as “a major global hub for the MRO and [used serviceable material] market, driven by its entrepreneurial prowess, strategic location as the gateway to Latin America, a high concentration of airlines and cargo carriers and a highly skilled workforce.” The report adds: “The aviation services industry in South Florida is experiencing significant growth, driven by high demand for air travel, supply chain challenges for new parts, and a boom in engine and airframe maintenance, among other services.”

Joey Smith, aviation director at Cassel Salpeter, says these factors as well as a more lenient tax code and the state’s lifestyle and climate have led some large firms to relocate to the state. “We’ve seen an institutionalization of the aviation space in South Florida as bigger firms have come down here and as the [merger and acquisition (M&A)] activity has increased,” he tells Inside MRO.

MARKET CONSOLIDATION
Smith says three of the firm’s Florida-based MRO industry clients have M&A deals in the works, and he notes several substantial acquisitions that were recently completed by aftermarket companies in the state.

The first are Miami-based HEICO’s 2025 acquisitions of Millennium International Avionics, a Missouri-based provider of business jet avionics repair services, and Gables Engineering, a Coral Gables, Florida-based manufacturer of advanced avionics controls. HEICO tells Inside MRO the business achieved $4.5 billion in sales last year, and it anticipates more than $5 billion in sales this year.

Another “very acquisitive” company, according to Smith, is VSE Corp., which has three MRO facilities and a parts distribution center across Florida. VSE acquired Florida-based MRO provider Turbine Controls and parts specialist Kellstrom Aerospace in 2024. In December, the company acquired Aero 3, an MRO and distributor specialized in the commercial wheel and brake aftermarket. Aero 3 has nine MRO facilities across the U.S., Canada and the UK, including in Hialeah Gardens, Florida. In January, VSE also agreed to acquire Precision Aviation Group, an Atlanta-based MRO with 29 global locations that supports the component, engine, avionics and designated engineering representative repair segments.

Hanwha Aviation, which was launched as a leasing company in 2024, last year bought Eko Green Industrial, an FAA-certified repair and teardown facility in Miami. Following the acquisition, Hanwha rebranded the business as Hanwha AeroTechnix, focusing on CFM56-5B, -7B and Leap-1A and -1B engine types (page MRO 30).

New York-based FTAI Aviation acquired full ownership of Florida-based CFM56 engine specialist QuickTurn Engine Center (later rebranded to FTAI Aviation USA) in late 2023 after buying the remaining 50% stake from Unical Aviation. The deal marked further aftermarket incursion for the company, which has since acquired Lockheed Martin Commercial Engine Solutions in Montreal and a 50% stake in IAG Engine Center Europe in Rome.

Smith also highlights GA Telesis’ acquisition of AAR’s landing gear overhaul and wheels and brakes businesses in April 2025, which GA Telesis CEO Abdol Moabery describes as “the largest acquisition in the company’s history.”

The move “significantly increases our global overhaul capacity, broadens our OEM and airline relationships and positions us among the largest independent landing gear MRO providers worldwide,” Moabery tells Inside MRO. “More importantly, it deepens vertical integration within our ecosystem, allowing us to control more of the value chain from asset acquisition through teardown, repair, overhaul and redeployment.”

Although GA Telesis has locations across the world, it is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale and has facilities throughout the state, including a major MRO services presence in the Miami area and facilities farther north in Orlando and Tampa. Moabery says Florida is “the operational backbone of our ecosystem,” and he notes that the state is “one of the most strategically advantaged aviation aftermarket hubs globally” due to factors such as its proximity to Latin America and the Caribbean, active air cargo activity, logistics infrastructure, a technical training pipeline and an experienced aviation labor pool.

“Equally important is the density of capability,” Moabery says. “Airlines, MRO providers, asset managers, lessors, OEM representatives, training institutions and logistics partners operate in close proximity. That concentration drives speed, collaboration and capital efficiency. Turn times shorten, supply chains compress and decision-making accelerates.”

In addition to integrating its landing gear overhaul and wheels and brakes acquisition, GA Telesis has been growing its engine module business by expanding overhaul capabilities for GE Aerospace and CFM International engines. The company also has been boosting its digital portfolio by launching a blockchain-based life cycle registry platform, Wilbur. Besides continuing to grow these two business portfolios, Moabery says GA Telesis will “continue to evaluate targeted acquisitions that enhance vertical and horizontal integration, expand geographic reach and strengthen technical capability in areas where scale and data create a durable competitive advantage.”

Another acquisitive aftermarket company that recently established a footprint in Florida is Setna iO. The company acquired a majority stake in Miami-based component repair specialist Zulu Global in February 2025, and in August, it acquired a majority stake in Hialeah-based Landing Gear Technologies. In September, its Setnix repair station subsidiary announced a strategic partnership with Tampa-based Altitude Aero, an aircraft-on-ground and logistics specialist. This year, Zulu Global will move into a new South Florida facility that Setna iO CEO David Chaimovitz says is about three times the size of its current operation. After these acquisitions, Chaimovitz expects Setna iO’s MRO earnings to quadruple this year.

Ontic is another MRO provider that sees Florida as a strategic location. Last year, it consolidated its MRO product lines—which include avionics, satcom systems, mechanical and linear actuators and other components—into a new MRO center in Miramar. The facility is “designed to provide focused repair and overhaul services with improved turnaround times and enhanced technical depth,” the company says. Ontic plans to grow staff there to 125 from an initial headcount of 60 last year and to boost growth by taking on additional product licenses from its OEM partners and investing in its dedicated MRO repair station in Tewkesbury, England.

PORTFOLIO GROWTH
Beyond building new facilities and making acquisitions, many other Florida-based aftermarket companies are expanding their businesses.

The Xtreme Group (TXG), a South Florida-based aviation services provider with air cargo, leasing, airframe MRO and engine MRO subsidiaries, is planning to grow markedly in 2026-27. The company launched 7Air, its cargo airline, last May to support the Caribbean and Central American markets. TXG CEO Carlos Cock tells Inside MRO that 7Air has recently added new routes and aircraft; its current fleet comprises four Boeing 737-800Fs. The airline also has established its own bonded warehouse, “giving us the flexibility to better serve and control the needs of the region,” he says.

TXG’s engine MRO subsidiary, which supports 7Air, recently rebranded as Ignite Aero Engines and appointed Juan Pantoja as president. Pantoja says the CFM56 specialist is “doubling down” on modular maintenance solutions and predictable turnaround times. The company’s Davie, Florida-based facility can accommodate up to 20 engines simultaneously.

TXG’s Aventus leasing subsidiary has secured additional capital to acquire new aircraft and engines this year, while its heavy maintenance subsidiary, Xtreme Aviation, is starting construction on a new 70,000-ft.2 facility in Fort Lauder­dale that will double its size. The facility is expected to open by the second or third quarter of 2027.

Miami-based inventory specialist DASI acquired Mesa Airlines’ entire Bombardier CRJ/MHI RJ Aviation spare parts inventory in March as Mesa transitions to Embraer E-Jets through its integration with Republic Airways.

Medley, Florida-based Component Overhaul Services will be adding in-house plating capabilities in the second quarter, and it also plans to introduce a new hydraulic test stand to support testing and overhaul capabilities. The company says it will continue to invest in infrastructure, equipment and workforce to meet increased demand for landing gear and accessory services.

End-of-life aircraft asset manager and component specialist Alaris Aerospace has three Florida facilities in Pompano Beach, Okeechobee and Sanford. As of March, it was actively disassembling three GE Aerospace GE90-94 engines and a Rolls-Royce Trent 700 and bidding on multiple CFM International CFM56 engines to add to its portfolio.

The company is targeting up to 10 engine teardowns this year and tells Inside MRO it has an “ambitious” growth plan for 2026-28 that entails scaling inventory, expanding market reach and tripling revenue. Alaris Aerospace has secured $50 million in capital to acquire young Airbus A320neo airframes, and it intends to raise another approximately $100 million in capital to support engine teardowns.

Dania Beach, Florida-based used serviceable material (USM) provider Next Level Aviation recently expanded its inventory through support from its commercial banking partner, PNC Bank. Next Level Aviation, which specializes in A320 and Boeing 737 family components, aims to continue expanding its product and service offerings and geographic footprint, which also includes a facility in Dublin. The company launched a military division in 2025, which it expects to grow this year.

AMP Aero, a Miami-based component specialist, recently ramped up its inventory for GE90, CFM56 and International Aero Engines (IAE) V2500 platforms. It plans to expand into leasing solutions this year and to launch its own MRO operation by 2027 to “control material turnaround times, improve cost efficiencies and strengthen service reliability across our portfolio,” a company representative says.

Powerhouse Engines, a Miami-based CFM56 MRO provider, added blade-tip grinding to its capabilities last year and introduced Ramco software for digital management of repair processes, inventory allocations and workflow. This year, the company plans to scale its engine leasing portfolio, increase shop visit induction volumes, grow its heavy shop visits and add more vendor and supplier partnerships.

Doral, Florida-based Flight Power, which specializes in turbine engine component support for platforms such as the CFM56, V2500, Pratt & Whitney PW4000 and GE Aerospace CF6 and CF34, is increasing capacity. The company tells Inside MRO that it recently opened a third facility because growing customer demand had pushed its other two facilities to nearly full capacity. The new facility will support growth in its component repair throughput, exchange pool programs and engineering-driven repair development initiatives. Flight Power also is expanding rotable inventory, exchange pool programs and material support programs, and adding honeycomb repair capabilities.

ENGINES ECOSYSTEM
Concentrated mostly around Miami in the Miami-Dade and Broward County areas and Central Florida is one of the largest congregations of engine MRO shops in the U.S.

Engine MRO providers are attracted by the state’s deep supplier access, strong technical talent and reliable logistics through multiple international cargo gateways, including airport hubs like Miami International Airport, deep seaports and trucking routes that allow for engine movement across the U.S. The business environment has aimed to solidify this status—parts, labor and equipment used in qualified repairs are sales-tax exempt.

Engine shops are also dealing with high demand, since MROs in the state are particularly strong on legacy and current-generation engine platforms. The demand-driven environment, against the backdrop of a constrained supply chain, has led MRO providers to ramp up shop capacity.

Among the prominent legacy repair specialists in Florida is CTS Engines, which has a commercial engine maintenance portfolio of most legacy widebody powerplants composed of CF6-80C2, CF6-80A, CF6-50, GP7200 and PW2000 engines. The MRO moved into a new 216,000-ft.2 engine shop last year in Coral Springs, 20 mi. northwest of Fort Lauderdale, with shop capacity to overhaul, repair and test 200 legacy engines per year. It also operates an outdoor test stand in Jupiter with 155,000 lb. of thrust.

Bill Kircher, CEO of CTS Engines, tells Inside MRO that CTS is committed to legacy engines for years to come, given sustained demand in that segment from airlines and cargo operators. “As airline shops like Lufthansa, All Nippon Airways, China Airlines and KLM move away from the legacy engines as part of their fleet, they move their focus to new engine models like the Leap, [Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan] and [GE Aerospace] GEnx, and this opens up an opportunity for us to support their fleet and offload work,” he says. “While delays in new aircraft deliveries are extending the life of existing aircraft, these legacy platforms were already expected to remain in service for many years.”

Another independent MRO, Pem-Air Turbine Engine Services, which operates at two locations across the state, made its first foray into Leap engine services in February. Initially focusing on lighter maintenance work scopes such as hospital visits and field services on the -1A and -1B, the company plans to scale capabilities as customers grow.

In addition, Pem-Air has recently expanded its V2500 services. These will be carried out at its Brookville engine MRO facility, located about 45 min. from Tampa. Pem-Air also operates an engine component and accessory repair shop in Davie, near Miami. The company has capability for General Electric CF6, CF34 and GE90, CFM56, Pratt & Whitney PW2000 and PW4000, V2500, Engine Alliance GP7200 and Rolls-Royce RB211, Trent 800 and JT3D and JT9D engines. It is looking to grow capacity and capability to new platforms, if it sees a market.

“Growth for us isn’t about scale for its own sake—it’s about expanding capabilities thoughtfully, maintaining operational stability and adapting quickly to our customers’ evolving needs,” a Pem-Air spokesperson says.

New-technology engine platforms also are being ramped up in the state. Pratt & Whitney, which operates an MRO facility in West Palm Beach for the geared turbofan engine, last year completed a $20 million investment in the site, which brought about a 40% increase in capacity.

Engine test capacity—which is underserved in North America, even on established engine types—also is being addressed. One method is through partnerships. Willis Engine Repair Center, the engine MRO business of Willis Lease Finance Corp., partnered with Doral-based MRO provider Global Engine Maintenance last year to form a joint venture and construct a test center for CFM56 engines. Operating as Willis Global Engine Testing in West Palm Beach, it will seek to reduce turnaround times for both companies’ customers and third parties.

Parts manufacturer approval (PMA) developments aimed at offering engine parts in short supply are also underway in the state. Chromalloy, which has Florida locations in Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Tampa, has gained several FAA approvals for components in the past year. These include the October FAA approval for the CFM56 high-pressure turbine stage 1 turbine that it developed in a joint venture with FTAI, which intends to develop five CFM56 PMA parts in total.

At the time of the announcement, the company told Aviation Week that it expects to ship a few dozen shipsets, but this is expected to reach hundreds of shipsets by the end of this year. Chromalloy invested more than $100 million over seven years into parts design, development and certification while also adding area smelting, forging, machining and coating functions to its facility in Tampa.

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Fifty voices. Dozens of sectors. One sweeping look at how investors, lenders and advisors are preparing for the year ahead. Here’s what’s keeping them up at night — and what’s giving them hope.

By Demitri Diakantonis
January 2, 2026

Mega Trends Impacting M&A Now and in the Future: The fifth and final installment of our 2026 M&A Outlook focuses on the mega-trends reshaping dealmaking across sectors. Dealmakers point to a set of slow-moving, but powerful shifts redefining how capital is deployed. From the rapid growth of family office capital and generational wealth transfers to a rising share of transactions happening outside the traditional sponsor-auction playbook, these mega-trends will shape the M&A market in 2026 and the years beyond.

James Cassel
Chairman
Cassel Salpeter & Co.
“Technology will continue to enhance our ability to source and execute transactions more efficiently. However, the key will be finding reliable, accurate information to apply and carefully vetting out misinformation.”

Brian Dudley
Partner, Growth Equity
Adams Street Partners
“We’re watching the evolution of corporate venture arms, which are becoming increasingly strategic and active participants in growth-stage financings. Together with a more active secondary market, these trends point to a more dynamic deal environment, with capital flowing through a broader set of channels than in prior cycles.”

Kenny Walker-Durrant
Partner
Technology and Life Sciences
Goodwin Procter
“The balance of power in biopharma M&A is shifting, with mid-caps between $3 and $40 billion continuing to play a braver game and challenging big pharma, driving deal volume and taking a bigger share of the market.”

Sean Epps
Managing Director
GenNx360 Capital Partners
“We see several forces reshaping dealmaking including price transparency pushing platform valuations higher, making disciplined buy-and-build strategies more valuable as a way to create growth and generate returns, while sustainability is increasingly embedded in valuations. Additionally global capital flows are shifting as sovereign wealth funds and public pension funds lean into the middle market.”

Hendrik Jordaan
Partner
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough
“The most significant mega-trend is the rise of family office capital. Estimates suggest that global single-family offices oversee approximately $3+ trillion in assets today, and that figure is expected to scale meaningfully as the intergenerational wealth transfer of up to approximately $100 trillion unfolds over the coming decades. As this capital moves from Baby Boomer wealth creators to the next generation, we are seeing a shift toward more direct investing, more emphasis on values and thematic alignment and a greater willingness to pursue bespoke deal structures rather than conventional fund-driven auction processes. This is already reshaping competitive dynamics in the middle market.
Second, we are seeing a continued blurring of the line between strategic and financial buyers. Operating companies are building in-house investment arms, while private equity firms and family offices are increasingly co-investing and forming long-term partnerships. This drives more minority deals, continuation vehicles, structured equity and creative governance terms.”

Uk-Sun Kim
Head of Credit
Originations – Middle Market &
Sponsor Finance
TD Bank
“Data rights and privacy frameworks will influence valuations, with assets boasting clean data provenance and strong governance commanding higher premiums, while due diligence expands to include AI safety and model risk. Payments and embedded finance are likely to see consolidation, as the rationalization of BaaS and ISV (independent software vendors) ecosystems drives banks to acquire or form deeper, compliance-focused partnerships. Finally, climate risk and insurance capacity shifts, driven by catastrophe repricing in coastal and wildfire regions, will reshape the economics of real assets M&A.”

Louis Lehot
Partner
Foley & Lardner
“We need to see reforms in the securities laws to enable the proliferation of digital assets on a legal basis, and we need a fundamental reform of the capital markets to reinvigorate the public markets. This will require some increased regulation of the private markets.”

Michael Magruder
Managing Director and Co-lead of Supply Chain Software
Brown Gibbons Lang & Co.
“Elite capital allocators will capture additional market share driven by network effects, information advantages accelerated by AI and changes in underwriting criteria driven by an increasing array of available financial products. This will result in a number of funds across venture, growth equity, control capital and private lending struggling to differentiate and compete in transactions further accelerating the aggregation of top assets within a narrow cohort of investors.”

David Ng
Principal
Avante Capital Partners
“We will see heightened attention around risk mitigation. For example, business owners and operators will place greater emphasis and thought around diversifying suppliers and strengthening supply chain operations.”

Peter Witte
Director, Global Private Equity Lead Analyst
EY
“Thematically, many of us were brought up thinking that some measure of certainty was a precondition for the M&A markets to function. While that remains broadly true, both corporate acquirers and PE sponsors increasingly recognize that the greater risk lies in standing still. As 2026 progresses, firms are expected to pursue transactions despite some remaining macro uncertainty – deepening diligence, expanding scenario planning and structuring deals with enhanced risk-mitigation features. Ultimately, resilience and adaptability will define the next phase of M&A, with firms advancing despite volatility to capitalize on opportunities.”

Amanda Zablocki
Partner, Co-Leader of the National Healthcare Team
Sheppard Mullin
“The collision of environmental factors, economic uncertainty and rising costs of healthcare are intensifying the focus on the country’s public health infrastructure. Until there are effective solutions on the public health front, the private sector will continue to be expected to deliver its own solutions and shoulder the costs and other challenges of ensuring people have access to quality healthcare across the country. This impacts not only health plans, hospitals and other healthcare providers, but also large employers across the country, creating a ripple effect that travels well beyond traditional healthcare. This may drive increased dealmaking across the broader economy for years to come.”

Eric Zinterhofer
Founding Partner
Searchlight Capital
“Public-to-private activity is accelerating. Small-cap public companies face systematic disadvantages in capital access and investor attention, causing good management teams to pursue privatization. Structured investments are increasingly necessary to create win-wins for sellers and buyers. Structural elements such as preferred equity layers and contractual return protections allow buyers to generate good risk-adjusted returns while providing liquidity and leaving upside for existing equity holders.”

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By Edward Hardy
December 4, 2025

• Trans-Pacific airfreight has been sharply impacted by US tariffs on Chinese goods and the removal of the US$800 de minimis exemption, causing e-commerce volumes to fall by around 50–60 percent and prompting a shift from air to bulk sea freight, longer supply chains, and redeployment of freighters to alternative routes.
• The structural disruption extends across logistics, retail, manufacturing, and warehousing, with airlines adjusting capacity, fleet deployment, and route strategies while facing pricing pressures; major US airports have seen a 30 percent drop in freighter arrivals, highlighting operational and employment impacts.
• Recovery and adaptation depend on monitoring e-commerce trends, trade policy, nearshoring, and supply-chain diversification, with airlines leveraging data analytics, route optimisation, and partnerships to streamline operations, manage costs, and maintain profitability amid ongoing tariff and regulatory uncertainty.

With tariffs still in flux and the full effects expected to ripple through 2025 and into 2026, the dynamics of cargo movement—particularly airfreight—have shifted sharply across the trans-Pacific trade corridor. US tariffs on Chinese goods, combined with regulatory changes such as the elimination of the US$800 de minimis exemption, have disrupted e-commerce logistics, reduced airfreight volumes, and sent reverberations through global supply chains.

These are not merely short-term disruptions but structural shifts that are altering sourcing strategies, delivery timelines, and the economics of moving goods.

“Everything is still in flux with the tariffs put in place, those outstanding, specifically China, and the effects to be felt through the balance of the year and into 2026 and beyond,” says Joey Smith, Director at Cassel Salpeter & Co. “My responses are based on the best info and data at my disposal, both proprietary and sourced from other industry experts I find credible.”

The double blow
The trans-Pacific air cargo market has been particularly hard hit, with volumes falling around 60 percent. Smith explains that the sharp decline is linked not only to the tariffs themselves but also to the removal of the US$800 de minimis exemption, which previously allowed small, low-value shipments to bypass tariffs and standard customs processes.

“This exemption facilitated the direct-to-consumer, duty-free e-commerce model,” Smith notes. “Platforms like Alibaba, Shein and Temu shipped a high volume of low-cost goods. With the exemption gone, these shipments are now subject to tariffs and full customs procedures, increasing costs and logistical hurdles.” In May 2025 alone, e-commerce bookings dropped by roughly 50 percent.

Airlines have responded by redeploying freighters on alternative routes, particularly within Southeast Asia, while Chinese e-commerce giants have shifted toward bulk sea freight to US warehouses. “The platforms are elongating their supply chains by weeks, moving away from individual air shipments,” Smith says. “Further reshaping of sourcing and logistics tactics will become more prevalent as the new tariff landscape continues to evolve and play out.”

This confluence of tariff and regulatory pressures has broader consequences. Reduced airfreight volumes raise costs, slow delivery times, and encourage companies to rethink their logistics strategies—changes that ripple down through retail, manufacturing, warehousing, and transportation sectors.

Wider impact
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has cut its air cargo growth forecast from 5.8 percent to near zero, reflecting more than just tariffs. According to Smith, the revision also considers macroeconomic uncertainties such as geopolitical tensions, slowing economic growth, inflation, and declining consumer confidence. “These factors impact consumer spending and, by extension, the need for airfreight services, which were delivering record metrics in 2024,” he says.

Compounding the issue is the elimination of exemptions under the 1980 Civil Aircraft Agreement. “This termination allows countries to impose tariffs on civil aircraft, engines, flight simulators, and related parts and components,” Smith explains. “The increased costs affect the entire supply chain—from aluminium, steel, and titanium production to aircraft pricing and spare parts—impacting airlines and manufacturers worldwide.”

At major US airports, the effects are visible. Smith highlights a reported 30 percent drop in trans-Pacific freighter arrivals at the top 18 airports, particularly on the West Coast, including LAX, SFO, ORD, JFK, and LGA. “This is more than a numbers issue. Reduced activity can lead to operational consequences, job losses, or slower hiring in logistics, trucking, warehousing, and last-mile delivery sectors,” he warns.

Shifts and strategic adaptation
The decline in US air cargo volumes—down 25 percent year-on-year through May 2025—is striking compared to other major markets. North America saw the largest contraction, while Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Latin America recorded modest growth. The Asia-North America corridor, long a backbone of e-commerce shipments, has borne the brunt of the downturn.

“China’s void is being partially absorbed by other Asian markets and Europe/Middle East routes,” Smith says. “But the sudden drop in e-commerce shipments has forced cargo airlines to rethink their business models, from capacity adjustments and fleet redeployment to route diversification and capitalising on nearshoring trends.”

Chinese e-commerce platforms have increasingly turned to slower, cheaper sea freight, reshaping the economics of airfreight. Airlines are exploring partnerships, niche markets, and consolidated shipments to optimise cargo space and reduce unit costs. “Real-time tracking, route optimisation, and data analytics are being leveraged more heavily to streamline operations, minimise delays, and identify cost-saving opportunities,” Smith observes.

Financially, the shifts have complex implications. Passenger carriers with belly cargo can benefit, as cargo can account for 5 percent of total revenue yet contribute up to 30 percent of a route’s profitability. However, high-demand airfreight routes face intense competition and pricing pressures, underscoring the delicate balance between cargo and passenger operations.

Signals of recovery
Keeping a close eye on both market and policy developments, Smith advises focusing on e-commerce growth, shifts in consumer habits, industrial production, PMIs, fuel price fluctuations, geopolitical tensions, and nearshoring trends. Policy factors include trade agreements, customs regulations, Open Sky agreements, and sustainability initiatives such as sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).

In the near term, the combination of tariffs, regulatory changes, and shifting logistics strategies is likely to continue shaping the trans-Pacific trade corridor.

“Monitoring these developments helps assess whether the air cargo market is moving toward recovery or facing further disruption,” Smith concluded. “The location of manufacturing hubs, diversification of supply chains, and regional trade flows will significantly influence airfreight routes and pricing strategies.”

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