JSSI Outlines Role of Independent Maintenance Partner for Business Jet Owners as New Deliveries Hit 854 in 2025

Business jet deliveries reached 854 aircraft in 2025, an 11.8% increase from 2024, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. Industry insiders estimate that approximately one-third of those new aircraft went to first-time buyers, many of whom had prior experience with charter or fractional ownership programs.

Julie Bourke, Global VP of Client Services at Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI), spoke with Aviation International News about the role of an independent maintenance and technical partner in business aviation ownership. Bourke's team serves as the day-to-day point of contact for every aircraft enrolled in a JSSI program. "From day one, every aircraft on a JSSI program has a dedicated service representative, a technical advisor, and, where applicable, a dedicated product line specialist for their specific engine or airframe," Bourke said.

Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Chicago, JSSI describes itself as the largest independent provider of hourly cost maintenance programs for business aviation, covering engines, airframes, and auxiliary power units across more than 300 aircraft makes and models, with more than 6,500 aircraft supported through its programs and software platforms. JSSI's support contracts are not tied to any original equipment manufacturer maintenance network, which the company says lets operators select the maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility that best fits their immediate needs.

JSSI's maintenance tracking platform, Traxxall, gives aircraft managers visibility into upcoming scheduled maintenance to help minimize downtime. The company also operates JSSI Parts & Engines, which can supply parts and rental engines to reduce aircraft-on-ground time. "JSSI helps management companies fulfill their core obligation to the aircraft owner by supporting maintenance services that ensure the aircraft is available when the owner needs it and that costs are predictable," Bourke said. On choosing a services provider, she advised: "The most important thing is to look for a partner whose strengths fill the gaps. An aircraft management company handles operations, while JSSI handles the financial, technical, and analytical infrastructure that supports those operations." JSSI's portfolio also includes Conklin aircraft cost and performance data and Aviation Capital asset-based financing solutions, and the company is backed by institutional investors GTCR, Genstar Capital, and Blackstone.

A rising delivery count paired with a meaningful share of first-time buyers points to an ownership base that increasingly arrives without in-house technical expertise, having come from charter or fractional arrangements where maintenance was handled entirely by someone else. That gap between operating an aircraft and maintaining it is exactly where independent programs like JSSI position themselves, separating the management company's operational role from the financial and technical tracking of engines, airframes, and APUs.

Hourly-cost maintenance programs work by converting unpredictable, lumpy repair bills into a budgeted per-hour rate, and their value proposition depends on not being tied to any single OEM network — owners keep the option to route work to whichever MRO facility suits a given job. Platforms like Traxxall and parts-and-engine support exist to shorten aircraft-on-ground time, which is the operational cost that budget predictability alone does not solve.

Whether this model gains further ground with the incoming wave of new owners will depend on how many of them actually enroll aircraft in independent programs versus relying solely on their management company's arrangements — a split the current figures do not break out.