The business jet market has several new aircraft

The business jet market appears primed for several new aircraft unveilings, a key business aviation market analyst believes, suggesting that Gulfstream, Honda Aircraft, and others might “soon be taking the wraps off new planes.” Manufacturers have remained quiet about their plans, but new products are an important path for them to remain competitive and more efficient, said Brian Foley of Brian Foley Associates. He added these announcements could come as soon as next month at the NBAA annual convention.

Foley believes Gulfstream has a couple of significant motivators to moving forward with a successor of its ultra-long-range G650ER flagship. From an operational standpoint, Gulfstream “hasn’t historically allowed any competitor’s product to have a meaningful edge for long,” Foley said. But Bombardier’s new Global 7500 has a 7700-nm range, 200 nm more than the G650ER. Past practices suggest that Gulfstream would announce a new model to “steal back the range crown,” he surmised, adding that while “so few would ever benefit from an increase to this practically nonstop-to-anywhere capability. But then sometimes it’s more about branding than a usable improvement in mission capability.”

But to Foley, even more important is the fact that the G650ER manufacturing techniques are less efficient compared with that of Gulfstream’s newest models, the G500 and G600, which can be built in fewer hours and with fewer parts.

“By ditching the old G650ER and replacing it with a longer-range derivative of the new G600, the company stands to improve margins while optimizing commonality with G500/G600 parts and tooling,” he said.

Bombardier “doubled-down” on its business jet unit with the exit from a number of other business lines, he said. This suggests the business jet pipeline will remain active at the Montreal-headquartered manufacturer, Foley said, and expressed the belief that the company’s “middle-size” aircraft lines, the Challenger 350 and 650, “are both overdue for other than incremental improvements.”

Noting that its heritage stretches back to the 1970s, “the Challenger 650 is arguably most due for a makeover,” he said, suggesting an outright replacement would mark a bolder move.