It’s hard to believe that 5-years have passed since the initial crash of the preowned aircraft market. It was October 2007; at the National Business Aircraft Association (NBAA) conference in Orlando, Florida that many in our industry finally  acknowledged we have a big problem. In the course of 90-days pre-owned aircraft values were falling at a pace beyond imagination and most of the aircraft specific lenders just stopped writing loans on aircraft purchases. Lenders were unable to ascertain where residual values would level and therefore just pulled back. When the dust finally settled, used aircraft values had fallen anywhere from 40%-60% depending on the aircraft make & model.

By 2008, we saw the largest quantity of used aircraft on the market than any other time in history. It was a buyer’s  market like no other, if you were a cash buyer! Now after 5-years of recovery the pre-owned aircraft market looks very different in all but a few segments.

Piston Single & Twin
This market surprisingly has seen steady sales especially in the higherend models. This is not to suggest that the piston market is brisk, but it is steady. Nice, clean, well maintained aircraft with upgraded avionics have proven popular if the sellers are realistic in their price expectations.

Turboprops
The turboprop market has shown incredible stability. I remember 5-years ago when many predicted the death of the turboprop as a result of all the new VLJ’s that were being introduced. “Who would That clearly hasn’t been the case, turboprop values have held strong in some markets and the quantity of available aircraft has shrunk considerably in most current production turboprop models. Last December, 1313 turboprops were being actively advertised, today there are 1180. That’s an appreciable reduction.

Jets
This market segment has been just plain unpredictable. There are certain models of light/medium weight jets that have shown some strength and others that still show a steady decline (think Beechjet). Large cabin aircraft such as Gulfstream G550, Global Express and certain Falcons are seeing activity largely due to the incredible appetite of the Chinese market. Overall, the quantity of available inventory is either down or remains the same from the beginning of the year which in itself is an improvement.

One thing is for certain, 2013 promises to be an interesting year for private aircraft operators big and small. Bonus depreciation is soon to be extinct and the hopes of an aviation friendly elected administration have vanished. Our hope is that opportunist who have sat on the sidelines this past year waiting to see any sign of improvement will now dive  headfirst into using private aircraft to grow and excel in the new year!!

Banyan Aircraft Sales specializes in aircraft selection, valuation, negotiation, inspection and management of turbine  powered aircraft. Call Mike O’Keeffe to discuss your aircraft options 954.492.4331.