The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) assembled a panel to discuss the rising demand and a never before seen low in inventory levels of preowned business jets, stating that supply would continue to be limited for the following 6 to 12 months.
Sales of used jets in December 2017 totaled 479 units, and by December 2020, that number grew to 861. Driving this growth is demand for turboprop aircraft, followed by large business jets, then midsized and light jets. Inspections for pre-purchased aircraft have doubled within the last year.
“Jets are moving quickly if they’re quality, and a lot of them are coming from off-market sources. When we had the financial meltdown 12 years ago, available inventory spiked to 18 percent of the fleet. The current market for business jets is 180 degrees from where it was in 2009. When we had the financial meltdown 12 years ago, available inventory spiked to 18 percent of the fleet. As of yesterday, there were 1,400 jets for sale—that’s the lowest we’ve seen in years. It’s an unheard-of number that represents about 6 percent of the fleet. There are simply more buyers than sellers.”
Rollie Vincent, president of Rolland Vincent Associates
The surge of new aircraft sales is in part due to the pandemic, as more and more people opt to fly private due to the health safety and stress-free aspects. However, the panelists all believe that once corporate flight departments, which have been largely dormant due to Covid, return to pre-pandemic levels, many will list excess aircraft, which may affect the lowering of prices.
Due to the one to two-month wait at maintenance facilities, the panel advises new buyers to “get into the market now and exercise patience. Be ready to buy on day one, but expect to take much longer.”
