Scarce Inventory, But Not One Price Story

The instinct is to assume scarce supply means uniformly higher prices across the board. That’s only true at the newest end of the market. Modern, low-time, long-range jets built to fly long distance, the kind based out of major hubs like New York, are trading at what industry reporting has described as a “premium floor,” where even older examples of in-demand models like the Gulfstream G650 and Bombardier Global 6000 are fetching prices once reserved for mid-life aircraft.

Older large jets are telling a different story. JETNET data shows average large jet asking prices fell 23.7% between July and December 2025, from $14.06 million to $10.73 million, even as inventory tightened, because sellers were adjusting expectations to match slower buyer behavior. Days on market for large jets rose from 261 to 272 over the same stretch. By mid-2026, JETNET’s trailing twelve-month data put the average large jet asking price at $12.63 million, down 15.7% year over year, the steepest pricing correction of any cabin class it tracks.

There’s a basic principle behind why buyers pay a premium for the newest metal: a newer jet engine burns less fuel, delivers better fuel efficiency and typically comes with lower operating costs and maintenance costs than the engines flying in a 20-year-old airframe. That’s an important factor for anyone weighing aircraft ownership over the long haul, not just the initial purchase price. Still, a good airplane doesn’t have to be brand new. Plenty of older jets have solid upgrade paths, from advanced avionics to new engine programs, that keep them competitive without a new-aircraft price tag, which is why 74% of all for-sale inventory is now 16 years or older and still finding buyers, just more slowly, at 100+ days on market versus 54 days for jets under five years old.

In short, the shortage is concentrated in the sweet spot buyers want most: young, well-specified, long-range jets in short supply. Everything older is still moving, just more slowly and at softer prices.

Why Supply Dried Up

A few forces are converging here. Order books at every major manufacturer are stretched thin, with Gulfstream and Bombardier backlogs reportedly extending toward 2029. That backlog on new aircraft is pushing buyers who don’t want to wait years for new planes off a factory line into the used market instead. At the same time, fewer owners are choosing to list. On the demand side, the 2026 extension of bonus depreciation under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is giving United States buyers real incentive to close deals within the tax year, and record corporate profits are keeping cash flowing into hard assets like private aircraft.

Transaction data backs up the resilience of demand even as supply shrinks. JETNET’s mid-2026 barometer found large jets were the only cabin class to post transaction growth in the first half of 2026, up 3.8% year over year to 332 deals, even as small and medium jet transactions declined. Separately, the International Aircraft Dealers Association reported deal volume among its accredited members up 21% year over year in the second quarter. The exact figures vary by data provider and dealer population, but the direction is consistent across every aviation industry source: a lot of people are chasing the same shrinking pool of aircraft.

What It Means If You’re Selling

If you own a young, well-maintained, well-equipped large-cabin jet, you’re operating from a position of real leverage. Buyers have fewer alternatives, and aircraft in this bracket are trading quickly, often before they’ve had time to sit on the market. It’s a great place to be as a seller, provided the aircraft is positioned and priced with an accurate read of where true demand sits.

If your aircraft is older or has a less competitive spec, the calculus is different, and getting it right is a big deal. Longer days on market and softening asking prices mean pricing discipline and thoughtful preparation, from documentation to maintenance records to how the aircraft is marketed, matter more than they did a few years ago. Positioning an older jet to sell takes a lot of work, but repricing to match current market conditions is often the only solution once a listing has gone stale.

What It Means If You’re Buying

For buyers chasing a newer large-cabin jet, patience is a liability. The aircraft that fit the brief are being snapped up in weeks, and waiting for better options to show up in the near future usually isn’t a good idea; the best ones tend to disappear first. Working with a broker who tracks listings in real time and has better visibility into off-market inventory matters more in a market this tight than it does when inventory is plentiful. That goes for first-time buyers shopping for their first plane just as much as owners trading up.

Buyers open to a slightly older airframe have more room to negotiate and more time to do proper diligence, and that’s not a consolation prize. Many of these aircraft remain in active, productive service; JETNET’s flight activity data shows jets 21 years and older actually grew in flight hours over the past year, evidence that age alone doesn’t tell you whether an aircraft is still a good airplane.

Where This Goes From Here

JETNET’s outlook for the second half of 2026 expects preowned volumes to build gradually, with newer aircraft continuing to trade quickly while older airframes list in greater numbers and take longer to sell. Barring a shock to the broader economy or a shift in production at a major manufacturer, this pattern, real scarcity at the top of the large jet market and a more patient market for everything else, looks likely to persist into the near future.

Whether you’re weighing a sale or trying to secure the right aircraft before someone else does, market conditions like these reward preparation over speed alone. That’s where an experienced broker earns their fee: not just finding a new jet or a private jet that checks every box, but finding the right one, on and off market, before it’s gone.

Considering a sale or acquisition in today’s business aviation market? Freestream’s brokerage and design teams have spent over three decades navigating cycles like this one. Get in touch to talk through your options.