Hard hit airlines are looking to get rid of their flagging and old aircraft, with some being sold on but most being resigned to the desert graveyards in California, Arizona and New Mexico.

Over the past year airlines have announced that they will be taking 1,700 planes out of service with-in the next few years. United Airlines have announced that they are going to retire 94 of there Boeing 737s, and Northwest Airlines will cut there old DC-9 fleet by at least a third. This comes after an increase of 29% in the last year for storage of planes. Over 2,300 planes are in storage at the moment, with nearly half of them being from US airlines.

The US deserts have become the top destination for aircraft storage, this is due to the perfect blend of inexpensive land, which reaches as far as the eye can see and a dry, hot climate that conserves the aircrafts. Planes depreciate rapidly in high humidity.

Southern California Aviation President Jeff A. Lynn said that they were swamped with new and old aircraft being put into storage. Though he does expect that 90% of the aircraft that are coming in will be out and back into service once again some time soon.