Used aircraft prices have gone parabolic since last year, first launching to lofty heights only to arc back down to earth. While the drop began just before last year’s NBAA Convention, at the show aircraft purveyors had that deer-in-the-headlights look as they shook their heads in disbelief as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 1,000 points during the three-day event, punctuating the beginning of a year-long correction in pricing. Values imploded on everything from premiums on new aircraft delivery positions to aging aircraft.
A barrage of cheap shots by the general press fueled the fire and added challenges to operators who had to defend their jets, and it did not help that some didn’t. As the sector became the whipping boy for the greater ills facing the U.S. economy, owners reacted by curtailing flight activity and in some cases selling their aircraft, presumably the result of public pressure.
