Private Aviation Market Remains Active but Selective Through First Three Quarters of 2026

The private aviation market through the first three quarters of 2026 showed continued transaction activity alongside growing selectivity, with meaningful differences across aircraft categories, according to a review of Q1–Q3 data. AMSTAT's Q1 2026 Preowned Business Aircraft Market Report found total preowned business aircraft transactions down 10.5% versus Q1 2025, though still 4% above the 10-year Q1 average. Business jet transactions fell 11.4% year over year but remained 9.1% above their 10-year Q1 average, while turboprop transactions fell 8.9% year over year and sat 4.8% below their 10-year Q1 average.

Q2 was stronger: across five tracked categories — helicopters, large jets, light jets, mid-size jets, and turboprops — there were 716 full-sale transactions during April, May and June, led by light jets at 188, helicopters at 182, turboprops at 147, large jets at 126, and mid-size jets at 73. June alone recorded 265 total sales, including 74 helicopters, 71 light jets and 49 large jets. AMSTAT reported Q2 preowned business aircraft transactions up 11.2% versus Q2 2025 and 14% above the 10-year Q2 average.

In Q3, total full-sale transactions across the five categories fell from 716 to 640, a decrease of approximately 10.6%, while new listings rose from 626 in Q2 to 664 in Q3, an increase of approximately 6.1%. Mid-size jets bucked the trend, with full sales rising 26% quarter over quarter from 73 to 92. Turboprops recorded the largest increase in new listings, up more than 20% from Q2. September alone saw 173 sales against 225 new listings across the five segments, and helicopter sales fell from 182 in Q2 to 147 in Q3 while helicopter new listings rose from 117 to 130.

Utilization stayed firm: ARGUS TRAQPak reported North American business aviation flight activity up 3.5% year over year during the first half of 2026 and global activity up 4.2%, while WINGX reported global business jet activity about 3.3% ahead of 2025 through late September. JETNET's mid-year analysis found for-sale business jet inventory at approximately 6.6% of the fleet during H1 2026, down from 7.3% in 2025 and well below historical levels of roughly 9% to 12% during 2014–2020. JETNET also found aircraft zero to five years old taking approximately 54 days to transact, versus more than 100 days for aircraft 16 years and older. Aero Asset reported pre-owned twin-engine helicopter retail sales up 8% year over year during the first half of 2026 while supply declined. The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) noted that qualifying new and used aircraft acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025 may be eligible for 100% bonus depreciation, subject to the buyer's specific circumstances, business use, and other requirements.

The pattern across these three quarters is a market cooling from an unusually strong 2025 baseline without falling below longer-run norms — Q1 and Q2 transactions both landed above their respective 10-year averages even as year-over-year comparisons softened. That distinction matters because a single year-over-year decline can look like weakness when it is really a reversion from an exceptional prior-year quarter.

The segment's mechanics show up clearly in the age-based transaction speed: younger aircraft are transacting in roughly half the time of older ones, which is consistent with for-sale inventory sitting well below its historical share of the fleet. When inventory is scarce, buyers concentrate on newer, more liquid aircraft, leaving older stock to linger — a dynamic distinct from, and more granular than, simple sales counts alone.

Mid-size jets and turboprops moved in different directions in Q3 — mid-size full sales up 26% quarter over quarter while turboprop new listings rose more than 20% — suggesting category-level supply and demand are decoupling even as aggregate transaction counts fell 10.6%. Whether that divergence persists into Q4 will depend partly on how the restored 100% bonus depreciation incentive affects U.S. buyer timing, and partly on whether utilization figures from ARGUS and WINGX continue running ahead of 2025 into year-end.