At what point do 'maintenance programs' stop on ageing aircraft ..?

Buster Buchko: There's no fixed point at which maintenance is no longer possible. It's up to the manufacturer to prescribe maintenance, and up to the operator to carry it out. In theory, since you can replace or rebuild anything on an aircraft if cost and time are not important, the life of an aircraft is open-ended.In practice, an aircraft is scrapped when the maintenance becomes to expensive to be practical. For an airliner, when the maintenance becomes so expensive that operating the aircraft is a net loss, the airliner is retired. Often it is retired before that, when the maintenance begins to eat away at profits too much. Sometimes a replacement with a newer aircraft that can be operated more cheaply may precipitate the retirement of an aircraft.In the case of private aircraft that do not have to earn their keep, the lifetime of the aircraft can be very long indeed....Show more

Esteban Faggett: I'm not sure there's a definite limit - I guess there comes a point! where everything breaks down and needs replacing at the same point. It might then be decided that its better to scrap the aircraft altogether. I'd say its the operator rather than the manufacturer.

Mauro Cowee: Service life of an aircraft is decided by the manufacturer

Tom Romer: At such time as parts are no longer available. In their last years as an independent entity, Northwest Airlines had the oldest average fleet of major airlines in the U.S. (I rode on on e of their DC-9's once, and I swear the the data plate inside the door must have been signed by Amelia Earhart.)

Jackelyn Archut: I haven't even heard of a car with "broken electronics"