Part 1 in the series: Why you shouldn’t buy a $10M G550 and start a shuttle from NYC-London: Acquisition - No $10M G550s exist - If one did it would be off engine programs, high time, or both. If you don’t know what this means think cost of overhaul > value of airplane - Based on the current market, every sub $15M G550 would need between $1.5-$2.5M in upgrades to meet the standards of current consumers - Major lenders will not offer on this, you’d be in the secondary market with an 80% LTV at best and a mark to market adjustment annually. See future post on residual value math on why this would be very bad for you

Manhattan to HPN (White Plains) airport at sunset. Tough to beat. Taking a Blade >>> taking an Uber. Great times with @sydor_greg @pj_quant and Colin Dunne!

Can’t find a single source that agrees on aircraft classes so I made one…taking comments @preston_holland @sydor_greg

If owners decide to start selling and take gains this is going to be a wild 3Q/4Q. Heavy jet values increased 11% in 2 quarters. Closed deals is down YoY but activity is up 27.9%. Same story in super mids. Source AIN/Amstat

At Aero Friedrichshafen. Spoke with 3 EU based charter operators today. Tax play/tax play/hope to break even so owners can fly but only do 1 out of 5 years play….is there a charter operator that makes money and can explain how they do to me?

Before buying a new airplane have the OEM run your top routes AFTER you fully spec it. …and have your chief pilot provide them with full route plans …and give loading preferences …and do summer and winter profiles ….and have one of those runways be high altitude …and

The Hawker market is cheap. There is a reason it’s cheap. Yes I know you liked it when you chartered. Please consult with anyone who knows about operating costs before you buy a Hawker.

A few legs and a signature

Gulfstream G650's are no longer a depreciating asset - at least for the time being. Not only have they defied a typical 7% annual depreciation curve, but they've INCREASED roughly 2% ($1M) in value over the past 12 months. Like we needed another reason to love this airplane... Mean Base Value March 2025: $44,000,000 Mean Base Value March 2026: $45,000,000

Team is exploring geographic impact on markets. First pass shows (pre tariff) N registered aircraft are discounted 3% for global buyers and non N reg are discounted 5% for US buyers. Will be interesting to dial this in by specific reg and markets.

If you own a jet and want to charter it out, your magic number is 300. Your flown hours charter hours ≈ 300 Why? 300 hours/yr is really the max two pilots can comfortably fly. Go past that and you need to hire a 3rd pilot — an additional $200K–$400K fixed cost. This means more charter just to offset the 3rd pilot… which pushes you into accelerated maintenance and depreciation. It also means your jet isn’t always available when you want to fly. We have clients flying 50-1,000 hours a year on a single airframe. Finding the right sweet spot is @pj_quant’s speciality

If you’re actively negotiating a jet lease and intend on traveling internationally, pay very close attention to the operational limitations. Specifically geographical areas the lessor won’t allow you to go…situations like today will only increase this going forward

Great week for Bombardier. Beat guidance on deliveries, book/bill at 1.4, firm order from a big 3 charter firm. Interesting that guidance is to remain on par for production. If that’s true I expect we’ll start to see some extended timelines for next available.

Just got an invite from Embraer for a big product announcement 2/24 in BusAv…any guesses?

RT @sydor_greg: Buying a Jet? Here's the Macro: 15 years or newer = Seller's market 15-20 years = Neutral 20 or older = Buyer's market P…

The G650 might be the first out of production aircraft to show secondary resale value increases in late SNs…and did it in Q1. This market is incredible.

Carpet in terminals is wild behavior

Worth the read. Some great info on the realities of flying private. Charter "starter" threshold: $2M net income $20M net worth $8,000–$15,000 per flight hour Fractional buy in: $1.5M–$5M upfront Ongoing monthly management fees Ownership break-even: ~150–200 flight hours/year True ULR ownership: $40M–$75M aircraft $10M annual operating costs