I love stories that illustrate the dynamic quality of the economy. Even as unemployment is rising in some industries, job opportunities are increasing in others. And sometimes, as this LA Times story details, the same industry creates both less opportunity in one area and more opportunity in another area.

Take the airline industry. If you’ve flown recently, you know flights are packed now that airlines have dropped/consolidated flights in order to maximize profitability on every flight. It makes business sense, yet the move also means fewer airplanes are needed. Thus, they’re stored in what this story calls “boneyards.” Some will be put back into service as demand dictates, others will be sold, and others will disassembled for parts.

What makes this story about the Victorville boneyard even more interesting is that boneyards need aircraft mechanics in the face of rising demand for space and service.

Aircraft leasing companies are also grounding planes because fewer airlines are renewing their leases. In some cases the companies park the planes rather than slash lease rates, said aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia of Teal Group Corp.

With plane numbers far exceeding demand and travel sliding even more than anticipated, the boneyards are expected to remain busy this year.

Lynn’s company has been growing steadily since airlines began grounding planes. Its payroll increased by 30% since last fall.

The company has 150 employees and is looking for more aircraft mechanics.

But Lynn says the company has been cautious about hiring too many workers too quickly to avoid the boom-and-bust cycle that has characterized the business for decades.

“We’re trying to be careful about ramping up too fast,” he said.

Each airline has its own preferred way of storing aircraft, which could include draining a plane of fluids, covering up the windows and then having a tow truck move it slightly every two weeks to even out the tires.

Other winners in today’s airline economy are those looking to buy aircraft. The story says prices haven’t been this low in several decades.