Nickel alloys have been popular for their strength and good resistance to corrosion and heat. Especially due to these properties of nickel alloys, they can be used in the manufacture of various aerospace and aeronautical components. Wire electrical discharge machining [WEDM] is widely used for machining of various alloys since is reliable in terms of precision and accuracy. In this paper, three different aerospace alloys of nickel viz. Inconel, Monel and Incoloy have been taken for experimentation with WEDM machining. The process optimization is done by using Taguchi method considering four parameters viz. Pulse ON time [TON], Pulse OFF time [TOFF], Wire feed rate and Current at three different levels each. The machining rate and surface roughness for each sample is measured separately. Then the results are compared and then based on the comparison, the optimum parameters for machining of each alloy are determined as well as the alloy most suited for machining using WEDM is also for aerospace applications are inferred. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd.