• Locatory.com recorded its busiest search month of 2026, with aircraft parts searches up 34.5 percent from August as the autumn maintenance season gathered pace. Standard hardware and seals led the Top 50 Most Searched list at 38.8 percent, followed by engine components at 30.6 percent.
• Standard hardware and seals also accounted for 33.3 percent of the Hardest to Find list, ahead of engine components at 22.2 percent, with shortages extending across avionics, cabin and safety equipment, structural materials and chemicals. The GE90 engine control cluster seen in the previous four months disappeared from September’s list.
• Strong Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 demand, alongside recurring searches for CFM56-related parts, points to continued narrowbody maintenance pressure. Locatory.com says teams should bring forward sourcing for repeat-demand items and treat routine hardware as a potential constraint, with 10 hard-to-find part numbers repeating from August.

September was the busiest search month of 2026 on the Locatory.com aviation marketplace, with aircraft parts search activity rising 34.5 percent from August as the autumn maintenance season gathered pace.

Locatory.com’s Top 50 Most Searched and Hardest to Find parts analysis show how that demand is taking shape. Standard hardware and seals moved to the top of both lists, replacing the summer’s concentrated GE90 engine control pattern, while sourcing pressure spread across engines, avionics, cabin equipment, structural material and chemicals.

For procurement teams, that creates a different challenge. A recurring shortage tied to one engine program can be monitored as a defined risk. Scarcity spread across unrelated aircraft part numbers is harder to anticipate.

Looking at the part numbers behind those rankings gives a clearer view of where aircraft parts demand and availability are moving as the industry enters Q4.

September Marketplace Highlights
• September 2026 was Locatory.com busiest search month of the year, with aircraft parts search activity up 34.5 percent from August.
• Standard hardware and seals led both rankings, accounting for 38.8 percent of classified Most Searched parts and 33.3 percent of classified Hardest to Find parts.
• Engine components remained a major demand category, representing 30.6 percent of the Most Searched list and 22.2 percent of the Hardest to Find list.
• September scarcity was more fragmented than during the summer, with constrained parts spread across hardware, engines, avionics, cabin and safety equipment, structural material and chemicals.

Standard Hardware Leads September Search Demand
Standard hardware and seals accounted for 38.8 percent of September’s Top 50 Most Searched parts, making it the largest demand category on the Locatory.com marketplace for a second month.

The list is dominated by relatively small maintenance items used across inspections, repairs and component installation, material that becomes more visible as maintenance activity rises. These include:
• bolts (A32266, D5537002021000, BACB30PN14-32M, 83769H14-17)
• rivets (CR3522-5-03, CR3524-6-03)
• nuts (S700N1518, 52U629, BACN11R3, BH01227-08L, 2600545)
• gaskets (2330-0055, 771884)
• washer (208501-89), spring (975101-10), pin (30-2121003-00), bush (D5754054220000), seal (2256M75P01) and pin rivet collar (BACC30M6)

The wider aftermarket showed the same direction. AAR reported a 31 percent year-over-year increase in Parts Supply sales and said it saw no slowdown in parts bookings or maintenance demand. Locatory.com search mix adds another layer to that picture, showing that a significant share of current buyer activity is reaching down to the standard hardware and consumables required to execute the work.

Narrowbody fleets remain central to September demand
The Most Searched list also contains a strong Airbus A320 family and Boeing 737 signal, , with 16 of the 50 listings carrying one of those applications.

Airbus related requirements include pin assembly (83647-14-1), wheel tire bolt (A32266), CFM56-5B bolt (83769H16-14), pipe (744A1200-02), landing gear bearing (201587209) and inlet cowl assembly (642-1000-49).

Boeing 737 related material includes bearing (DAS10-26B1-504), electrical solenoid assembly (63000933-1), hydraulic fuse (2-8041-1), transducer (1680-654), temperature sensor (3171784-9), Integrated Drive Generator (761574B), pressure regulator and shutoff valve (3214552-5), bleed air regulator valve (107492-6), igniter (518888-1) and diode pack (763226-14).

The narrowbody pattern also shows continuity from August. Ignition plug (305766-1), CFM56-5B bolt (83769H16-14) and Airbus A320 family landing gear bearing (201587209) all remained active in September after appearing in the previous month’s demand data.

Engine Components Keep Narrowbody Demand High
Engine components accounted for 30.6 percent of September’s Top 50 Most Searched parts.

The searches span several engine systems, including ignition plugs (305766-1, 518888-1), engine bolts (83769H16-14, 2093M29P02), hydraulic fuse (2-8041-1), seals (167446-200), transducer (1680-654), temperature sensor (3171784-9), pump assembly (63508412-1), pressure regulator and shutoff valve (3214552-5), bleed air regulator valve (107492-6), and LPT stage 3 blade (50N203).

That demand is consistent with the wider CFM56 aftermarket reporting. GE Aerospace said CFM56 retirements were running at only 1.5 percent to 2 percent in 2026, below earlier expectations, while around 2,400 shop visits are expected in both 2026 and 2027. Cirium’s fleet data adds further context, with nearly 63 percent of in-service passenger narrowbodies at least eight years old, including 29.3 percent more than 15 years old. That installed base continues to generate demand for replacement material well beyond major engine assemblies.

Scarcity Extends into Routine Maintenance Material
Standard hardware and seals accounted for 33.3 percent of September’s Hardest to Find parts on Locatory.com, ahead of engine components at 22.2 percent, cabin and safety at 15.6 percent, and electrical and avionics at 13.3 percent.

The constrained hardware mix includes bearings (VTB11220P20, 1B7297, 3120010487927, 3130010548610), screws (60-4156-1, 2291-13), bolts (51U692, 5306-01-231-7363), gaskets (5330011165466, 613U59-0003-2), bushing (AJ18C105DU), washer (NAS1149C0690R), seal (J8066), packing (5330-01-706-1023) and backup ring (8-218V709-90).

September is not the first time standard hardware has s as a constraint. It made up 45 percent of the Hardest to Find list in February and 40 percent in March, before falling to 12 percent in July and 16 percent in August, with shortages already appearing across bolts, fasteners, bearings and seals. By September, its share had bounced back, suggesting that pressure around routine maintenance material has become more prominent as the high maintenance season approached.

The September list also extends well beyond hardware. It includes turbine rotor set (750574-3), engine mount bolt (CSP282-29LA), body assembly main FCU (343813), starter motor (04-20148), voltage converter (41010-000), capacitor (935A333-3), lighting fixtures (2G44012, 6210002342656), buckles (5340006233289, FDC1575-2) and corrosion preventive compounds (8030001450111, MIL-C-21067).

One notable change from August was the absence of the GE90 engine control cluster that had appeared on the Hardest to Find list for four consecutive months. FADEC variants (105E70898G1, 105E70898G2, 105E70898G3), HMU control assembly (1693M75P08) and temperature and pressure sensor (0154GF9) no longer appeared in September’s list.

What September Signals for Q4
September’s Locatory.com data suggests that Q4 planning should focus less on isolated headline shortages and more on work package completeness.

Standard hardware and seals now lead both demand and scarcity, while requirements for engine components, avionics, cabin furnishings and chemicals remain spread across the Hardest to Find list.

For procurement teams, the practical steps are to:
• pull forward sourcing for repeat demand items
• review exposure to frequently searched part numbers before induction
• stop treating standard hardware as low priority because of its unit value

Ten Hardest to Find part numbers repeated from August, and five parts moved from August’s Most Searched data onto September’s Hardest to Find list, so repeat demand is already a feasible early warning.

For suppliers, the opportunity is equally specific. September’s search mix shows where buyer attention is building before every requirement becomes urgent. Suppliers that can identify repeated demand early and keep the right lower value material available may be better positioned as Q4 maintenance activity increases.

The post September 2026 Parts Data: Scarcity Spreads Beyond a Single Engine Cluster appeared first on Air Cargo Week.