Yes, repair stations and operators can license maintenance records, and the records AI developers want are the ones that link a fault to the fix and the parts used. The only public price is a court record: in the Spirit Airlines bankruptcy, Google was selected at $10 million for a de-identified data set whose schedule lists 459,828 scheduled maintenance tasks, with Mercor as alternate bidder at $7.5 million. That sale still awaits court approval. Before any deal, check who owns each record, customer confidentiality and export controls.
- Buyers want linked records: the work card, the finding, the part removed and installed, and the release.
- The one public price is the Spirit Airlines court sale, a whole airline estate, not a repair station archive.
- A station keeps its own work records, but they describe customers' aircraft: read customer agreements first.
- Military and defense work, OEM technical data and mechanic names stay out or are removed.
Who this page is for
Owners and accountable managers of FAA Part 145 repair stations, component overhaul shops and MROs; Part 135 charter and Part 121 operators with their own maintenance departments; and flight schools that maintain their own fleet. In Origin's experience it helps most when the company has kept work orders in one system for seven years or more.
If you want the general question first, whether maintenance records can be sold at all, read selling aircraft maintenance records to AI companies. This page is the sector landing: what buyers want, the price evidence, who signs, the limits and how to describe your records.
Which aviation maintenance records AI buyers want
AI developers building maintenance and troubleshooting tools want the chain from a reported fault to the fix that cleared it. One record type alone is worth much less than the same records joined by aircraft, date and part number.
| Record | What it holds | Why the links matter |
|---|---|---|
| Work cards and non-routine findings | The task, what the mechanic found, what was done | The finding is the training signal; the card says how it was resolved |
| Parts removals and installations, 8130-3 tags | Part and serial numbers, reason for removal, release | Connects a symptom to the part that fixed it |
| Reliability and component removal reports | Repeat defects and removal rates over time | Shows which fixes held and which came back |
| AD and service bulletin compliance | Method of compliance, dates, recurring inspections | Structured records with a clear rule behind each entry |
| Logbooks and return-to-service entries | Description of work, signer, certificate type | Ties the work to the approval; see the logbook entries guide |
| Operations and irregular-operations logs | Delays, cancellations and their causes | Links maintenance events to their effect on the schedule |
Maintenance software vendors already train on pooled records. Veryon says its AIRE product draws on "more than 80 million maintenance events and 1.3 million parts" (Veryon), a vendor claim. A single station's archive is smaller but complete for its own work, which is what makes it useful.
What AI companies have paid for aviation data: the public evidence
There is one public price, and it comes from a bankruptcy court. No buyer publishes a price list for aviation records.
| Evidence | What it shows | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Spirit Airlines auction result | Google LLC selected "as the highest and best bid", "Total Consideration (USD): $10,000,000"; Mercor.io Corporation as alternate bidder at "$7,500,000" (Dkt. 1463). Under the revised sale papers filed November 9 (Dkt. 1802), Google also pays the de-identification costs on top of the price (Bankruptcy Observer) | Court filing; the Dkt. 1802 terms via a secondary docket summary |
| What the Spirit data included | The asset schedule lists "Scheduled Tasks Tasks 459,828" and "Parts Received Parts 787,452" among the operations and maintenance lines (Dkt. 1463) | Court filing |
| A competing offer | Fortune reported that micro1 "has proposed paying $12.5 million for the trove of records, beating Google’s previous top bid of $10 million" (Fortune). micro1 filed a notice of intent (Dkt. 1556), not a selected bid (Bankruptcy Observer) | Press report of a filed notice |
| Status of the sale | The hearing "has been adjourned and will now take place at 11:00 a.m. on November 17, 2026" (Dkt. 1779). Revised sale order and agreement filed November 9 (Dkt. 1802). The consumer privacy ombudsman said that "from a privacy perspective, approval of the sale of the deidentified data would be appropriate" (Dkt. 1684). Objections from pilots' unions, Airlines for America, IAE, Springshot and Navitaire were pending, and no sale order had been entered, when this page was checked (Bankruptcy Observer) | Court filings; pending objections via a secondary docket summary |
The Spirit figures are for a whole airline's de-identified business data, not a repair station's maintenance archive, and the sale is contested and was not approved as of November 13, 2026. Treat them as evidence that buyers pay for operational aviation records, not as a price for yours. Published ranges are ceilings a buyer advertises, not offers and not closed prices.
Who owns the records, and who signs a license
Two sets of rules overlap. The aircraft owner or operator must keep the aircraft's maintenance records: under 14 CFR 91.417, "each registered owner or operator shall keep the following records", and some of them "shall be retained and transferred with the aircraft at the time the aircraft is sold." (14 CFR 91.417). A repair station keeps its own records of the work it did: "A certificated repair station must retain the records required by this section for at least 2 years from the date the article was approved for return to service." (14 CFR part 145).
So a station holds its own work orders and findings, but they describe customers' aircraft and parts. Whether the station may license them is usually decided by its customer agreements, not by the FAA rules. Read the confidentiality and data clauses of your largest customers first.
| Who holds the records | What it holds | Who usually signs |
|---|---|---|
| Part 145 repair station | Its own work orders, findings, parts and release records for customer work | The owner or CEO, after checking customer agreements |
| Part 135 or 121 operator | The aircraft records it must keep as operator, plus its own maintenance program records | The owner or CEO; leased aircraft may add lessor terms |
| Flight school or private fleet owner | Its own aircraft records | The owner |
| Closed or bankrupt company | Whatever the estate holds | The trustee or assignee, usually with court approval |
The accountable manager is "the person designated by the certificated repair station who is responsible for and has the authority over all repair station operations" (14 CFR part 145). That is an FAA role, not authority to sign a data license; the owner or board decides that.
Legal limits: export controls, OEM data and personal data
Military and defense work comes out first. ITAR technical data includes information "which is required for the design, development, production, manufacture, assembly, operation, repair, testing, maintenance, or modification of defense articles" (22 CFR 120.33). Commercial technology can also be controlled: the EAR treats "Releasing or otherwise transferring "technology" or source code (but not object code) to a foreign person in the United States (a "deemed export")" as an export (15 CFR 734.13). See the ITAR and EAR checklist.
OEM manuals and technical data are usually licensed to you under confidentiality terms. In the Spirit case, International Aero Engines objected, saying it "provided to the Debtors certain proprietary commercial information, technical data and information, and financial data and information", and asked the court to enforce its confidentiality agreements (Dkt. 1538).
People are in the records too. Each maintenance entry carries "the signature, certificate number, and kind of certificate held by the person approving the work" (14 CFR 43.9). Tail numbers lead to owners through the public registry, although "private aircraft owners can request certain personally identifiable information, such as names and addresses, be withheld from broad dissemination" (FAA). Replace mechanic names, certificate numbers and tail numbers with consistent codes before anything leaves the company; see how to de-identify company data.
Records checklist for a repair station or operator
Describe the archive before anyone looks at files. The sector records checklist (CSV) has these rows for aviation and the other four sectors.
| Item | What to write down |
|---|---|
| Systems | Maintenance tracking and work order system (for example CAMP, TRAX, AMOS, Corridor, Quantum or Veryon), plus scanned paper years |
| Years and continuity | First and last year in each system, and any gap when the system changed |
| Volume | Approximate counts of work orders, non-routine cards, parts transactions and logbook entries |
| Links | Whether a finding, the part removed and the release record share a work order or part number |
| Customers | Share of work done for customers with confidentiality or data clauses |
| Exclusions | Military or ITAR programs, OEM manuals, anything under a customer NDA |
What a one-page datasheet looks like (fictional example)
Buyers ask for a datasheet before they ask for a sample. This one is invented to show the level of detail; it describes no real company.
| Field | Fictional example |
|---|---|
| Company | Part 145 repair station, airframe and powerplant work on turboprops, 40 staff |
| Years | 2011 to 2026 in one work order system; 2006 to 2010 on scanned paper |
| Volume | About 30,000 work orders, 90,000 non-routine findings, 120,000 parts transactions |
| Links | Finding, part removed, part installed and release share the work order number |
| Exclusions | Two military customers and all OEM manuals removed; tail numbers and mechanic names coded |
| Owner and signer | Owner-operator; customer agreements reviewed for data clauses |
What happens next: three steps
A first conversation needs no files. You can stop after any step.
- Describe your records: answer six questions, with no files and no system access. Origin then checks which records are yours, which customer agreements restrict them and what is export-controlled.
- Datasheet and sample: Origin turns your answers into a one-page datasheet like the example above, and you approve a small de-identified sample before anything leaves the company.
- Buyers and license: Origin shows the datasheet to the AI developers and data programs that have asked for maintenance records, with their published terms. You approve scope, use, price and delivery, and sign the license yourself.
- Origin does not charge data owners; a buyer may pay Origin when a deal closes (how Origin is paid).
Resources for your maintenance and quality team
Practical guides for the people who keep these records every day:
- FAA Form 337 example: how to fill it out
- FAA Form 8130-3: blocks and examples
- FAA Part 145 repair station requirements and records
- Aircraft maintenance logbook entries: FAA requirements and examples
- Selling aircraft maintenance records to AI companies
- What happens to company data in a business bankruptcy
- Selling a debtor's operating records in a 363 sale
Hold years of maintenance records? Describe them in six questions, no files needed, and see what your data is worth.
Origin Data Partners works with companies that own data and helps get it bought. We are independent of the services on this page, and a buyer may pay us when a deal closes (how Origin is paid). See what your data is worth.
Common questions
Can a Part 145 repair station sell its maintenance records to AI companies?
Yes, for records it owns and is free to share. A station keeps its own work orders, findings and release records, but they describe customers' aircraft, so customer agreements decide most of what can be licensed. Export-controlled work, OEM technical data and personal details stay out or are removed.
Who owns the logbooks a repair station keeps for its customers?
The aircraft owner or operator must keep the aircraft's maintenance records under 14 CFR 91.417, and some must transfer with the aircraft when it is sold. The station keeps its own records of the work it performed for at least two years under 14 CFR 145.219. The customer's logbooks are the customer's.
What did the Spirit Airlines data sale include, and was it approved?
Google was selected at $10 million, with Mercor as alternate bidder at $7.5 million, for de-identified business data whose schedule lists 459,828 scheduled maintenance tasks and 787,452 parts received. Revised terms filed on November 9 have Google also pay the de-identification costs. The sale is contested: the hearing is set for November 17, 2026, and no sale order had been entered when this page was checked.
Are repair station records export-controlled under ITAR or the EAR?
Some are. Maintenance and repair information for defense articles is ITAR technical data, and commercial technology can be controlled under the EAR, including release to foreign persons in the United States. Separate military work and screen the rest with counsel before sharing anything.
How many years of maintenance records do AI buyers usually want?
More years in one system is better, because buyers want to see repeat defects and which fixes held. In Origin's view, seven years or more of continuous work orders is a useful archive; a short history can still matter if the records are complete and linked by part and work order.
Do we have to share tail numbers or mechanic names with a buyer?
No. Replace tail numbers, customer names, mechanic names and certificate numbers with consistent codes before any sample leaves the company. Consistent codes keep the links between records, which is what buyers need, without identifying people or aircraft.
What does Origin charge the repair station?
Nothing. Origin does not charge data owners; a buyer may pay Origin when a deal closes. You approve every step and sign the license yourself.
Sources and further reading
- In re Spirit Aviation Holdings, No. 25-11897 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.), Dkt. 1463: Notice of Auction Results for the Deidentified Data, with sale agreements and asset schedule
- Spirit Aviation Holdings, Dkt. 1779: Notice of Adjournment of Hearing on the Sale of the Deidentified Data
- Spirit Aviation Holdings, Dkt. 1538: Limited objection of International Aero Engines and cross-motion to enforce confidentiality agreements
- Spirit Aviation Holdings, Dkt. 1684: Supplement to the report of the consumer privacy ombudsman (October 5, 2026)
- Fortune: micro1 tries to beat Google's bid for Spirit Airlines data (September 14, 2026)
- Bankruptcy Observer: Spirit Airlines data sale docket summary (updated November 12, 2026)
- eCFR: 14 CFR part 145, repair stations
- eCFR: 14 CFR 91.417, maintenance records
- eCFR: 14 CFR 43.9, content of maintenance records
- FAA: Releasable Aircraft Database Download (aircraft registry)
- eCFR: 22 CFR 120.33, technical data (ITAR)
- eCFR: 15 CFR 734.13, export and deemed export (EAR)
- Veryon: How Veryon AIRE is shaping predictive maintenance in commercial aviation