MAKING OLD JETS NEARLY NEW AGAIN

A hot used-jet market makes avionics upgrades popular.

- ROB MARK

DAVE COLEMAN has been a transaction specialist—the fancy name for an aircraft salesman—at Duncan Aviation in Battle Creek, Michigan, for as long as I can remember. He’s actually based in Chicago, so whenever I need the latest information on the jet and turboprop markets, he’s my go-to guy. I asked him about changes to the light-jet market over the past 18 months, what with the pandemic and so many people ditching the airlines for business aviation.

Coleman likes context and sources, so I wasn’t surprised when he responded with some data from AMSTAT that showed the market for used airplanes was pretty tight. He began with some big-picture numbers. “There are roughly 22,818 active jet aircraft considered business aviation in the world still on a registry. I figure there are 51,882,000 millionaires in the world and perhaps 3,288 billionaires [who have the means to buy]. Right now, there are about 1,441 jets up for sale. Last year, sales hit a record with 2,329 jets changing hands. So far this year, 1,278 jets have been sold but with many fewer airplanes for sale.” With so few aircraft on the market versus the number of potential owners, “it wouldn’t take much of a spike in demand to practically clear the shelves of inventory—in fact, just a minuscule demand increase.”

That’s just what happened in 2020. The International Aircraft Dealers Association confirmed in its second-quarter report that its members “experienced success during the pandemic and now are experiencing accelerating momentum.” IADA executive director Wayne Starling said, “We have buyers with the funds to purchase, but demand for late-model aircraft with attractive configurations exceeds supply, which could increase pressure on prices.” New aircraft are also in demand, but at much higher prices and often with long wait times for delivery.