As the clock ticks down on 2023 and without G700 FAA certification yet in hand, Gulfstream Aerospace’s likelihood of reaching its forecasted 19 G700 deliveries by year-end "is zero,” business aviation industry analyst Rollie Vincent told AIN. Meanwhile, a Gulfstream spokeswoman told AIN that the company “continues to work towards G700 certification by the end of the year.”

Even if Gulfstream received FAA approval for the twinjet today, “I think that the most we could expect at this point is for FAA certification and an initial delivery or two before year-end,” Vincent noted. “My understanding is that the FAA was still doing some flying of the aircraft [this month], so things will have to move fast and in a highly coordinated fashion for that goal to be achieved. This is doable—the team at Gulfstream is highly experienced and focused, so with a little luck, this would be a nice way to close out an eventful year for the company.”

In October, parent company General Dynamics downgraded its 2023 estimate of 145 Gulfstream deliveries to between 133 and 135. According to General Dynamics, this counts 40 to 45 jets—including 19 G700s—in the fourth quarter. Without any G700 deliveries, this would drop to 114 to 116 units and could reduce fourth-quarter revenues by about $1.425 billion, although that is based on the jet’s $75 million retail price.

A shortage of maintenance capacity in the business aviation sector shows little sign of abating, forcing manufacturers and operators to address the issue with investment in new facilities and, in some cases, direct acquisitions of MRO providers. A recent survey by international management consultancy Oliver Wyman showed that 70 percent of operators believe capacity will become more constrained in the coming months as elevated flight hours, labor shortages, supply chain constraints, and brick-and-mortar needs conspire to limit the ability of maintenance companies to deliver services promptly.

Oliver Wyman said extremely high utilization rates likely will increase from about 90 percent to 95 percent in the next five years, placing still more pressure on MRO providers to address capacity needs. Already utilization rates have risen by 13 percent compared with 2019 levels.

According to Oliver Wyman partner Andrei Grskovic, demand continues to outstrip new capacity in terms of annual square footage growth versus aircraft inductions. The result is unmistakable: some turnaround times for airframes now range between six and 12 months.

While several OEMs recently have invested heavily in MRO largely to control expensive parts flow, independent companies don’t always enjoy the financial resources needed to build facilities. As a result, said Grskovic, non-OEMs haven’t managed to increase capacity through infrastructure development to the same extent, prompting them to deploy what he called insourcing strategies.

The inventory of available business aircraft continues to rise, according to the latest data from industry data provider Amstat. In a snapshot of December’s month-to-date activity, general manager Andrew Young told AIN that there were more than 2,400 preowned jets and turboprops on the market, 32 percent more than there were a year ago. That level, however, is still 19 percent below the 10-year monthly average number of listings. Preowned transactions for the first three quarters were down by 19 percent year-over-year.

Business jet inventories are 7 percent of the active fleet across the board, according to Amstat. In the large-cabin jet segment, that represents a 43 percent increase from the year before and nearing the 10-year average of 8 percent for the month. That increased availability coupled with a reduced amount of transactions has led to a 9 percent drop in median value for this segment.

For the super-midsize jet category, inventory increased by 63 percent from the same period in 2022, while preowned transactions declined by 31 percent. That combination resulted in a 9 percent drop in median values year to date, Amstat said.

Georgetown, South Carolina-based Part 135 operator Sherpa Air has set its sights on expanding into the business aviation maintenance and aircraft management markets following November’s opening of a 30,000-sq-ft hangar at Georgetown County Airport. Primarily involved in supporting Department of Defense special missions since its establishment in 2021, the company relocated to its new East Coast headquarters from Myrtle Beach, where it launched Part 135 operations in September last year with a de Havilland Dash 8-300 it acquired and modified for government special mission support.

Now in the process of submitting its Part 145 application with the FAA, the company has already begun work with “multiple partners” to execute its first maintenance contracts.

Sherpa Air director of aviation programs Paul Handakas told AIN that outsourcing maintenance on its Dash 8 to multiple companies met with unsatisfactory results. “The results were the same across the board—behind schedule and over budget,” he said. “We decided to bring our maintenance in-house and established a mobile maintenance base in Myrtle Beach while we waited for our hangar to be completed.”

After securing land adjacent to the new hangar in Georgetown, Sherpa Air expects to start construction on a second, similarly sized hangar in mid-2024 and a third in 2025. Now employing a team of 12, Handakas plans to expand to 30 by the end of next year.

Semi-private conversions remain a niche market with only a few MROs providing conversion and upgrade services. As one of those MROs, we often get asked about the available semi-private options – from basic interior refurbishment to the complete luxury VIP experience.

Jet Aviation has established continual supplies of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at two new U.S. locations. The General Dynamics subsidiary has stocked SAF at its Van Nuys, California facility since 2019, and through its agreement with World Fuel Services, it will now offer it at its FBOs in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Bozeman, Montana.

“I am delighted to be able to offer customers traveling to Bozeman, Scottsdale, and Van Nuys the choice to fuel with SAF onsite,” said Richard Layson, the company’s v-p of regional FBO operations. “We will continue to partner to increase SAF access and availability across our network in areas where our supplies are easily accessible.”

Outside the U.S., Jet Aviation—a sister company to aircraft manufacturer Gulfstream—offers SAF in Amsterdam and Singapore. Since 2021 it has allowed customers to access SAF benefits and purchase credits even in locations where no SAF is present through its book-and-claim service.

“We are proud to partner with Jet Aviation in enabling increased access to SAF supply across their FBO network,” said Brad Hurwitz, World Fuel Services senior v-p of fuel supply and trading. “Through actions such as these, we are collectively showing the power of collaboration in helping achieve the aviation industry’s 2050 net-zero goals.”

Hillsboro Aviation at Oregon's Portland-Hillsboro Airport (KHIO) has been designated an authorized Airbus Helicopters Service Center. A key player in the aviation sector since 1980, Hillsboro has expanded its comprehensive suite of services to include Airbus Helicopters maintenance, upgrades, warranty work, aircraft completions, and OEM part sales.

"As the only combined authorized reseller and service center in the northwestern United States, we look forward to supporting the life cycle of our customers' aircraft—from acquisition to maintenance and upgrades," said Ryan McCartney, COO and v-p of Hillsboro Aviation.

According to the company, this designation allows Hillsboro to fill a critical service gap in the region. It is already known for its offerings in the government, commercial, and private sectors and is now poised to provide even more specialized services. These include warranty services that are cost-competitive and tailored to customer needs.

Niko Szodruch, v-p of North American support and services for Airbus Helicopters, noted, “We are confident that our customers in the region will appreciate having Hillsboro Aviation, the only Airbus Helicopters authorized service center in Oregon, as a new choice for meeting their helicopter maintenance needs.”

The whereabouts of a Gulfstream GIII that went missing five days ago after departing from Canouan Island Airport in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines remain unknown. Air traffic control contact with the twin-engine business jet was lost about seven minutes after taking off on a sightseeing flight the afternoon of December 22. The U.S.-registered aircraft reportedly had two pilots and one passenger onboard.

To date, no debris, fuel, or other evidence of the aircraft has been found in the waters where the airplane may have come down. According to FAA records, N337LR was manufactured in 1981 and since January 2023 has been registered to Jetstream Aviation, a corporation based in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Alluding to the possible transportation of illicit drugs or other nefarious purposes, local media have reported that Saint Vincent and the Grenadines authorities speculate that the aircraft may have deliberately cut ATC contact and headed for a private landing strip in Venezuela. However, at this time there is no confirmation of these allegations.

The FAA has approved a supplemental type certificate (STC) for installation of the AerAware enhanced flight vision system (EFVS) with wearable head-up display (HUD) on the Boeing 737NG. The AerAware EFVS was developed through a partnership between HUD manufacturer Universal Avionics and AerSale, which led the STC program.

The STC includes Universal’s ClearVision EFVS with dual SkyLens head-wearable displays, capable of providing enhanced vision (infrared), synthetic vision, and combined vision system imagery. The displays are fed by Universal’s EVS-5000 multispectral camera, and a unique feature of the SkyLens system is that pilots can view imagery in any direction and aren’t restricted to the field of view of a fixed HUD. The ClearVision STC in the 737NG “marks the world’s first EFVS to achieve a 50 percent reduction in minimum visibility requirements and the first aircraft to be certified with a complete dual-pilot EFVS solution featuring a wearable [HUD],” according to Universal.

“Certified for EFVS operations all the way to touchdown and rollout in low visibility conditions, ClearVision improves accessibility to most airports and increases approach capacity at congested airports, leading to fewer delays,” said Universal Avionics CEO Dror Yahav. “AerAware serves as the only commercially viable retrofit solution that substantially increases situational awareness during low visibility operations for thousands of 737NGs, including over one hundred Boeing Business Jets, reducing natural visibility requirements on approach and increasing safety.”