Air freighters are bracing for a major jet supply crunch as demand for air cargo grows at a much faster pace than added capacity. Global air cargo volumes were up 6% y-o-y in July 2025, while capacity dropped 2% y-o-y in the same month, according to a DHL report seen by EnterpriseAM. Looking ahead, this crunch is expected to become more acute, as some 24% of the current freighter fleet — in terms of capacity — is forecasted to be retired out of service by 2033, DHL found.

Against this industry-wide headwind, airlines are steadily turning to retrofits. Demand for retrofits is going up as airlines work to ramp up capacity amid industry-wide delivery delays. Emirates enacted a USD 5 bn retrofitting plan aimed at extending the operational life of existing jets as it waits for delayed deliveries earlier this year.

And the Texas-based Mammoth Freighters is working hard to seize on this moment amid rising demand for retrofits. A Boeing licensee, Mammoth Freighters launched operations in 2020 and specializes in retrofitting Boeing’s flagship passenger 777 model — including the 200 Long Range and 300 Extended Range variants — to be cargo-ready.

Why retrofits? Retrofitted jets are a very good “gap filler,” Mammoth Freighters Sales and Marketing VP Brian McCarthy told EnterpriseAM. “If you can’t get new airplanes and you want to stay with the Boeing platform…. then [airlines] need a gap filler,” McCarthy told us. Mammoth Freighters’ passenger-to-freighter (P2F) models provide operators a reliable “seven to ten year gap filler until Boeing can deliver enough passenger aircraft and freighters,” he added.

Pricing can be a plus, too: There is quite a substantial differential in the pricing of the aircraft, with the retrofitted 777-200LR costing “close to USD 80 mn to USD 90 mn lower than a brand new built freighter,” McCarthy told us.

REMEMBER- Regional demand is booming: The Middle East commercial aviation market is forecasted to be driven by growing air travel demand, budget carriers, and significant aircraft orders. Overall, the region’s fleet is expected to increase by 5.1% annually, bolstered primarily by narrowbodies, according to an Oliver Wyman report (pdf).

The 777 model is preferred because of its proven durability and longevity, capable of performing reliably for many more flight years even after 10-15 years of service, McCarthy explained. The 777-300ER model can carry 819 cbm in volume with a max payload of around 98 tons, while the 777-200ER model can carry more weight at a maximum payload of up to 106 tons but at a smaller volume of 650 cbm.

Boeing is all in: To support customers facing delivery snags, Boeing is supporting the P2F model, McCarthy said. “Boeing has been more and more helpful in making sure that their customers are accommodated,” and players like Mammoth help provide additional cargo capacity until Boeing can fulfill their orderbooks, he added.


REFRESHER- Boeing pushed back delivery dates of its awaited 777x aircraft last year, with first deliveries forecasted for 2026. Delivery delays have been exacerbated over the last two years by engine storages, machinists’ strikes, and production cuts caused by quality and safety concerns.

Qatar Airways is set to be the first uptaker of Mammoth Freighter’s 777-200ER P2F models, after it commissioned five jets earlier this year through US-based leasing firm Jetran. Qatar Airways is getting “the first two aircrafts coming off of our production line, as soon as they are certified,” McCarthy told us. “We are closing in on certification, right now, and finishing all our final flight tests,” he added.

A canon event: Mammoth Freighters believes that Qatar’s 777-Max deliveries will act as a “triggering event” for more orders, but the company said it will remain focused on quality and remaining on schedule. “We’d rather make sure we focus on the certification tasks and support and deliver what we’ve already promised,” McCarthy added.

P2F is an attractive model for leasing firms: Conversions into freighters is more practical for leasing firms compared to passenger jets. When a major carrier like Emirates or Qatar returns an aircraft to the lessor, the plane is highly unlikely to find another passenger airline, McCarthy said. This is because the retrofitted aircraft is fully branded — with operational standards and cabin configuration tailored specifically to the initial airline — making re-entry into service with a different carrier exceptionally complex and difficult, he added.

P2Fs conversions also take the lead price-wise: “On a passenger plane, the residual value normally just falls and goes all the way to zero over some span of time, but on a freighter it goes down to a certain value and then stays there; it doesn’t keep falling but levels off over time.” That means that while it costs more to turn a jet into a freighter, long-term operational durability makes passenger-to-freighter jet retrofits (P2F) financially viable.

More retrofits also mean a better business outlook for maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services providers, as the prolonged lifespan of aging carriers means there’s a bigger need for regular maintenance services and more modifications and installations of spare parts, he added.

The MRO market is already heating up: Global MRO market size reached USD 114 bn in 2024, growing by 7.2% during the post-pandemic period, according to data from consulting outfit Oliver Wyman. The MRO market is expected to grow annually by a steady average of 2.7% to reach USD 156 bn in 2035.

But retrofitters like Mammoth also have to navigate supply chain snags. To hedge against any supply disruptions, the company began bulk ordering key parts two to three years ago. “We were buying 10 chip sets at a time, even though we didn’t really need them yet,” loading up on inventory at a great expense to “insulate ourselves because we were watching the whole industry suffer.” Some 99% of Mammoth Freighters’ materials are also bought locally in the United States at present, in a bid to maintain a more centralized supply chain than its counterparts in the industry.

They aren’t alone: Etihad Airways is weighing bulk buying aircraft parts and storing them in local warehouses for on-demand access — in a bid to sidestep supply chain gridlocks from planemakers. The bulk purchases are aimed at lowering downtime for jets undergoing retrofits in a bid to minimize network disruptions as the Abu Dhabi-based carrier rolls out a USD 1 bn retrofit program for its existing fleet.

Looking forward: The company is aiming for a production capacity of 16 or 18 airplanes per year, with some seven airplanes in the works right now.

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