Aircraft parts lead time: from “stock” on the quote to the part at your hangar

The short version

Time to your hangar = order admin + supplier lead time + pickup and export + main transit + import clearance + last mile + receiving inspection.

The lead time on a quote is usually only the second term. The rest depends on where the part is, the Incoterm, whether it is dangerous goods, and the paperwork. Count in calendar days, and add a day or two wherever a handover falls on a weekend or holiday.

What “stock”, “ARO” and “TBA” usually mean

There is no industry-wide definition, and usage varies from seller to seller. The table gives the common reading and the question that pins it down.

Even formal contracts spell out where the ARO count stops. The US General Services Administration's delivery clause counts calendar “days ARO” to destination for F.O.B. Destination prices, but only to the place of shipment for F.O.B. Origin prices. A one-word quote line carries none of that.

Where the part physically is, and why it matters

The lead time is measured where the part sits; your arrival date is measured at your hangar. The ships-from location decides:

• Distance and routing: how many flights and handovers lie between the shelf and you.
• Whose export rules apply: a part leaving the Netherlands or the UK goes through that country's export formalities. See our export control guide.
• Working days: pickup, filing and airline acceptance follow the local week and holidays.
• The pickup address: under EXW your forwarder needs a street address, not a country.

Ships-from is not country of origin. For US customs, origin is where the article was made or produced (19 CFR 134.1(b)), and duty follows it: a part made in France can ship from Florida.

Check the named Incoterm place against ships-from too: if a line is priced EXW in one city but the part sits in another country, ask whether moving it between them is inside the lead time and the price. MG AVIATION TECH quotes clients Ex Works our warehouse in Orlando, FL (EXW USA Orlando). Where the supplier states it, each line shows the country the part ships from, and the cost of bringing the line to Orlando is shown separately per line in our client portal.

EXW, FCA or DAP: who moves the part, and who clears it

Incoterms 2020 decide where the seller's delivery ends and who handles which formality. Three you will meet on parts quotes:

The ICC writes that traders are “strongly encouraged to consider using FCA instead of EXW” where goods cross a border, because EXW puts export formalities on a buyer who may be far away. For US exports, two more points:

• The Incoterm does not decide who files. The Foreign Trade Regulations give terms of sale no regulatory weight here. When you, the foreign buyer, authorize a US agent to export, it is a “routed export transaction”: your agent files the Electronic Export Information (EEI), and the seller must give that agent complete, accurate and timely data.
• The filing has a deadline. EEI is generally required above $2,500 per Schedule B number, and whatever the value when an export license is needed. For air cargo it is due no later than two hours before scheduled departure. Late data from the seller means a missed flight.

Express, forwarder or hand carry

With an aircraft on the ground, start from our AOG checklist.

Import customs: the paperwork sets the clock

Documents

A US commercial invoice must state, among other things, the port of entry, seller and buyer, a detailed description with the marks and numbers the goods are sold under (for a part, the P/N), quantity, price and currency, charges, country of origin, and what each package contains (19 CFR 141.86). “Aircraft part, 1 pc” invites questions.

Shipments up to $2,500 (up to $250 for goods in Chapter 99, subchapters III–IV) may generally use an informal entry; above that, the entry is formal. Duty-free de minimis treatment ($800) has been suspended since 29 August 2025, and a CBP rule effective 24 June 2026 made the suspension indefinite in CBP regulations for everything not sent through the international postal network, so even a courier box of O-rings needs a formal or informal entry.

Classification and the civil aircraft provision

Aircraft parts are spread across the tariff. In the current Harmonized Tariff Schedule (checked 19 September 2026), parts in heading 8807 (propellers, rotors, undercarriages and other parts of airplanes and helicopters) are free in the general column, a lithium-ion battery (8507.60.00) carries 3.4%, and ball bearings under 8482.10.50 carry 9%.

The WTO Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft, in force since 1980, removes duties among its signatories on civil aircraft, engines, parts and components. In the US it works through HTSUS General Note 6 and 19 CFR 10.183, with conditions:

• Only tariff lines with C among the free programs in the Special column qualify. The battery line above has it; the ball-bearing line does not.
• The importer claims it with the indicator C on the entry summary, which counts as certifying civil aircraft use.
• The article must be original or replacement equipment for making, repairing, maintaining or modifying aircraft, made or operated under an FAA certificate or an FAA-recognized approval of the exporting country's authority (or a qualifying application).
• Supporting documents, including the written order or contract and evidence of use and airworthiness certification, are kept, not filed. CBP can ask for them at any time and deny the claim without them.
• A missed claim can be filed later, before liquidation becomes final; refunds come without interest. Defense and Coast Guard purchases face narrower conditions.

Additional duties under Chapter 99 of the tariff are a separate question, often keyed to origin; even the 8807 lines carry a footnote to a Chapter 99 provision for products of the Russian Federation. Proclamation 11040 of 9 July 2026 imposed no new Section 232 tariff on commercial aircraft, engines and parts, but directed negotiations and left other measures open. Have your broker check the rate on the day of entry.

Dangerous goods: why some lines always take longer

The FAA's guidance on company materials lists aircraft parts that must be declared as hazardous materials: aircraft and lithium batteries (and equipment containing them, such as ELTs), fire extinguishers and bottles with squibs, oxygen bottles, chemical oxygen generators, escape slides and life rafts, smoke hoods, and parts with hazmat residues. Some limits are absolute:

• Chemical oxygen generators (UN3356) are forbidden on passenger aircraft, and forbidden on any aircraft once expired or spent (49 CFR 173.168).
• Lithium-ion batteries shipped on their own (UN3480) are forbidden on passenger aircraft and must travel at no more than 30% state of charge.

Each step adds time: only trained staff may perform hazmat functions, packaging and a shipper's declaration are specified, cargo-aircraft-only means fewer flights, airlines add their own rules (“operator variations” in the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations), and hand carry is usually out. On the RFQ, ask whether the line is DG, its UN number, and whether it can ship as DG from where it sits.

Receiving inspection: the day nobody plans for

Under FAA guidance (AC 20-62E), the installer must determine that a part is eligible before the aircraft returns to service, so receiving sits between the dock and the shelf: P/N and serial number against the release certificate and the PO, then condition, trace, shelf life and damage. A mismatch means quarantine and a question to a seller in another time zone, so check certificate and trace scans while the part is in the air.

A worked example you can reuse

Two lines for a US maintenance shop, both quoted EXW. Line A: “NE, 8130-3, stock, ships from US”, a small non-DG box, by express. Line B: “OH, EASA Form 1 dual release (FAA/EASA), 7 days ARO, ships from NL”, a spare lithium-ion battery (UN3480), by forwarder on a cargo aircraft. The durations are assumptions to show the arithmetic, not measured averages or anyone's committed times. Replace them with your own.

The “7 days” line lands about three weeks after the PO; the “stock” line in about a week. Plan on the total, not the lead-time column. For the price side of the same choice, see why one P/N gets very different prices.

Questions to ask before you issue the PO

1. Where is the unit now? City, country, and whose shelf.
2. What does the lead time count? From PO, payment or approval, to ready, shipped or delivered; calendar or business days.
3. Which Incoterm and named place? Who files the export, and who pays to move the part there.
4. Is it dangerous goods? UN number, and whether it can ship as DG from its location.
5. Classification and origin. HTS or Schedule B number, country of origin, export classification.
6. Documents first. Certificate and trace scans before shipment.
7. Size and weight. To choose between express, forwarder and hand carry.
8. Hold. If subject to prior sale, how long it can be held.

Sources

• ICC Academy, Incoterms® 2020: EXW or FCA? (7 January 2025); DDP & EXW Incoterms® 2020 explained (16 April 2025); Incoterms® 2020: DAP or DDP? (25 February 2025).
• US Foreign Trade Regulations: 15 CFR 30.3 (parties, routed export transactions), 30.2(a)(1)(iv), 30.4(b)(2)(ii), 30.37(a).
• US Customs regulations: 19 CFR 10.183 (civil aircraft), 19 CFR 141.86 (invoices), 19 CFR 143.21 (informal entry), 19 CFR 134.1 (country of origin).
• US International Trade Commission, Harmonized Tariff Schedule: 8807, 8507.60.00, 8482.10.50 (checked 19 September 2026).
• WTO, Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft.
• Federal Register, Proclamation 11040, Adjusting Imports of Commercial Aircraft, Jet Engines, and Aircraft and Engine Parts (signed 9 July 2026); CBP, Indefinite Suspension of the De Minimis Exemption (24 June 2026).
• GSA Acquisition Regulation, 48 CFR 552.238-86, Delivery Schedule.
• Hazardous Materials Regulations: 49 CFR 173.168, 172.101 (table entries UN3356, UN3480), 172.102 (special provision A100), 172.702, 175.10.
• FAA, Is Your COMAT Safe to Fly? (2022); AC 20-62E CHG 1, Eligibility, Quality, and Identification of Aeronautical Replacement Parts (14 September 2018).
• IATA, Dangerous Goods Regulations, 67th edition (2026): significant changes.
• Cambridge Dictionary, ex stock; C&L Aero, What to Know When Reading Aircraft Part Quotes.
• Air Cargo News, AOG logistics: the operational decisions behind an onboard courier shipment (4 September 2026).