A multi-engine, instrument rated pilot, James Wynbrandt has been an AIN and Business Jet Traveler contributor since 2003. His in-depth reporting and insightful features have won more than a dozen editorial honors, including two National Business Aviation Association Gold Wing Awards (2019; 2021), and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Barron’s, Fortune, Forbes, and Smithsonian Air &amp; Space. He has flown his Mooney M20K 252 on assignments throughout North and Central America and the Caribbean. Wynbrandt is also the author of Flying High (Wiley &amp; Sons), a biography of Jet Blue founder David Neeleman, as well as histories, references works, and books on a variety of other topics from major publishers. He lives in New York City.

Contributor - Business Aviation

James Wynbrandt

Aircraft brokerage Jetcraft (Static Display 704) announced at NBAA two significant developments: the aftermarket’s first preowned Gulfstream G500 transaction&nbsp;and the addition of two experienced sales directors to its North American team.

 


“The good news is the client didn’t take much of a hit,” Jetcraft president Chad Anderson said of the G500 transaction. The owner’s “needs had changed” since ordering the jet—a model that just entered service last year—and now, requiring a longer-range aircraft, sold the G500 upon delivery.

 


The buyer, a Gulfstream operator, “basically paid the same price they would have paid Gulfstream,” Anderson said, while the seller will “likely stay in the Gulfstream family.”

 


Meanwhile, bringing expanded coverage to the top half of North America, Jetcraft’s new team members Tobias Kleff and Chiko Kundi will cover the Northwestern U.S. and British Columbia; and the rest of Canada respectively, their onboarding capping a two-year, 25 percent staff expansion to some 60 professionals worldwide. The growth puts North Carolina-based Jetcraft “in a strong position to facilitate pioneering transactions in the long-range aircraft market, which, with an influx of new models, is entering a dynamic period,” Anderson said. He pointed to the G500 transaction as an example. “The definition of ‘preowned’ is changing; it no longer means ‘old’ in private jet sales.”

 


Jetcraft’s 2019 5-Year New &amp; Preowned Market Forecast, released in May, foresees demand for large jets “soaring,” as intercontinental travel needs grow. “For the long-distance flier, models such as Gulfstream’s G500 and G600, Bombardier’s Global 7500 and Dassault’s Falcon 8X make excellent investments, whether bought new or pre-owned,” Anderson added.

 


Barely a week before aircraft were due to assemble at Henderson Executive Airport for static display, Jetcraft was “in the normal final stages of logistics,” Anderson said, with plans to bring aircraft spanning “super-midsize, large cabin, and ultra-long-range” jets to showcase.

 


Looking ahead, Jetcraft, which sold more than 100 business aircraft last year, predicts stability in both the new and preowned markets, bolstered in part by recent OEM presentations. “What’s particularly helpful for us to hear was a consistent message: None of them are overly bullish in ramping up for a balloon of orders,” Anderson said. “Our market got out of control, with speculative orders and flipping positions. All those days and lessons are behind us. I feel the manufacturers pipeline and plans represent a supportable business.”

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