Guardian Jet Reports Pandemic-Era Premiums Returning for Late-Model Business Jets, Launches Guardian Intelligence Platform

Guardian Jet says business jet buyers are again paying pandemic-era premiums for the most sought-after late-model aircraft, based on market activity the firm observed during the third quarter of 2026. The premium is increasingly for availability: a near-new aircraft five years old or younger on the market today, rather than a new aircraft with a long delivery wait.

The firm noted that not every aircraft commands a premium, and that activity varies significantly by model, category and region. Gabriel Bastos, managing partner of Guardian Jet, said the firm expects demand to remain selective.

Guardian Jet also launched Guardian Intelligence in the Vault, its client portal. The platform combines nearly 25 years of proprietary aircraft data, custom-built technology and expert advisory services. Its newest component is a reimagined Dynamic Market Survey, which turns the static market surveys Guardian Jet advisors have prepared for years into an interactive tool.

Clients can filter tracked aircraft by model year, airframe total time, asking-price range, equipment and location, and review aircraft for sale, recently completed sales, valuations, market movement and individual aircraft details. A Market Insights feature uses artificial intelligence to summarize patterns in the proprietary data for further review with an advisor.

Guardian Intelligence has four areas: Consulting and Advisory Intelligence, Market Intelligence, Model Intelligence and Transaction Intelligence. The platform is available to Guardian Jet clients through the Vault at no additional cost.

Founder and managing partner Mike Dwyer said buyers need to understand how an aircraft sits within its market, what comparable aircraft are doing, what alternatives exist and what waiting could cost.

Guardian Jet is a global aircraft brokerage, consulting and data analytics firm based in Guilford, Connecticut, with offices in Denver and London. It supports more than $2 billion in aircraft transactions worldwide each year. The firm also recently joined NBAA's Legacy Society.

A premium tied to availability is a different pricing signal from one driven by scarcity of every aircraft. When buyers pay more for a near-new jet that can be flown now, the price is compensating for the time a factory-new order would take. That logic holds only for the models where used supply is thin and new-delivery waits are long, which is consistent with Guardian Jet's own caveat that activity varies by model, category and region.

The platform launch points to where brokerages see their edge. Pricing a late-model jet depends on comparing equipment, hours, location and recent sales, and a tool that lets a buyer filter on those variables moves part of the advisory work into data that clients can inspect themselves, with an advisor reviewing the output. Offering it at no additional cost to existing clients makes the data part of the brokerage relationship rather than a separate product.

The next test of the premium read is whether the same pattern appears in Guardian Jet's figures for the following quarter and across more models than the most sought-after ones.