Allison Lampert

(Reuters.) – The buyer “hysteria” for used business jets that prompted a wave of bidding wars has subsided. Brokers say more corporate jets will soon be available for purchase.

Corporate planemakers will focus on the rise in demand for pre-owned jets, which has been at historic lows. Textron Inc (NYSE) General Dynamics Corp (NYSE) and Bombardier Aircraft (OTC) Inc will release earnings within the next few weeks. This is to provide investors with early clues as to whether there are any signs that demand for new planes may be slowing.

U.S. Business Jet Traffic remains at 2019 levels. However, the mixture of listed and unlisted planes is offering buyers more choices while prices have remained flat or slightly decreased.

Paul Kirby (NYSE): Executive Vice President, QS Partners, an all-aircraft brokerage/dealership said that the market was “kind of taking a deep breath.” There was such hyperbole that you thought some buyers might miss the next aircraft.

The pandemic caused a drop in commercial air travel and congestion at airports. This drove wealthy tourists to seek private transport.

Kirby explained, “You could see that it wasn’t a $25 million airplane but a $50,000,000 airplane.”

AMSTAT (a U.S. market research firm specializing on business aviation), reported that the April percentage of business jets available for sale on the used market rose to 3.4% from 3.3% in February.

AMSTAT stated that 10.2% is the comparison for the 10-year-average.

Since buyers have more options than the new models, buyers can reduce demand from aircraftmakers Gulfstream, Textron or Bombardier for their newer jets. The price gap between new and old is also reduced by a buyers’ market.

General Dynamics reports its quarterly results Wednesday, while Bombardier reports May 5th. Bombardier declined to comment before earnings. Textron’s aviation division, which reported on Thursday, wasn’t immediately available for comment.

Guardian Jet’s managing partner Don Dwyer stated that while popular models are still selling at a high price, there is less competition for their aircraft. Inspections are being conducted by buyers now, and planes aren’t selling as rapidly.

Dwyer stated that he was bringing his Bombardier Challenger 300 family aircraft to market, but that it “won’t last for two weeks.” However, the jet would have gone out of business a long time ago.

AMSTAT data indicates that in November 2021, there was a 0.7% drop in the number of Challenger300s on sale. The current rate is 2%

Kirby indicated that while the market continues to be strong, some aircraft owners may want to sell because of the difficulty in finding qualified pilots and spare parts for U.S.-based business jet and commercial flights.

“Our clients struggle to hire qualified pilots and keep them, even at high pay levels,” he stated.