JCB Aero Gains Part 145 Approval for Boeing 737 Maintenance at Auch Facility
Why It MattersAdding a second airframe family lets an MRO widen its addressable customer base without new hangar capacity, a common route for smaller shops to scale utilization.
What happened
JCB Aero, based in Auch near Toulouse, France, announced in September 2026 that it received a Part 145 maintenance approval for Boeing aircraft in August 2026, extending its MRO capabilities beyond Airbus platforms. The approval covers Base and Line Maintenance on the B737-600, B737-700, B737-800, and B737-900 variants.
JCB Aero launched its MRO operations in October 2024 and has since carried out numerous maintenance projects on Airbus aircraft. Sébastien Kubler, Chief Operating Officer at JCB Aero, said the Boeing approval "marks an important milestone" in the company's MRO development, adding that the Boeing 737 family expands the range of customers the facility can serve.
JCB Aero said it has already begun issuing quotations for Boeing maintenance work and expects to receive several Boeing aircraft at its Auch hangar in the coming months.
Industry impact & what to watch
Adding a second airframe family to an existing Part 145 certificate is a common way for an independent MRO to grow without new facility investment, since the same hangar, tooling budget and technician base can now be spread across two customer pools instead of one. For an operation that only started MRO work in October 2024, moving from an Airbus-only shop to one covering four Boeing 737 variants within two years signals a deliberate push to broaden the addressable fleet rather than deepen specialization in one manufacturer.
Whether this translates into higher hangar utilization depends on factors the announcement does not quantify, such as how many Boeing operators are within practical ferry range of Auch and how quickly JCB Aero can staff type-rated technicians for the new certificate. The company's own next step, issuing quotations and receiving the first Boeing aircraft, will be the first real test of demand; how many aircraft actually arrive at Auch in the coming months is the figure worth tracking.
