Southern California Logistics Airport Boneyard (Victorville, California)

 storage, aircraft

www.airplaneboneyards.com/southern-california-logistics...

Airlines like to park planes in the desert because the dry weather acts as a preservative, preventing corrosion.
Southern California Logistics Airport is now one of the nation's busiest boneyards.
"Pickling" airplanes is aviation jargon for disassembling parts and draining fluids from aircraft so they can be stored for a long time.
The jets, with covered in aluminum foil and engines removed, will be towed to this sprawling lot that resembles a used-car dealership. It is filled with rows of planes that just months earlier had crisscrossed the Pacific or hopped across the Midwest.
High fuel costs during the summer of 2008 drove many airlines to ground older, gas-guzzling planes. Since then, a recession- induced travel slump has led carriers to take even more planes out of the sky.
The latest rush of airliners to Victorville began in October 2008. Before long 100 aircraft were on the tarmac, then 150, and by March 2009 the roster had swelled to nearly 200, making the outpost more crowded at times than Los Angeles International Airport.
Maximum capacity would be 300 aircraft.
It is estimated that only 10% to 20% of these planes will ever fly again.
Older aircraft no longer wanted by the U.S. carriers sometimes find their way to airlines that serve countries in Africa or Latin America.
Many of these planes are for sale, but if the airline doesn't find buyers, the aircraft are sent to this boneyard to wait out the lull or be dismantled for parts.