Embraer has logged its most successful first quarter in company history, the Brazilian airframer announced this morning during an earnings call. Overall, the manufacturer saw 31% year-over-year growth, posting revenues of $1.4 billion.

Revenues for the executive jet division—which accounts for approximately 30% of the company’s overall revenues—increased by 30% year over year, to $418 million, for the quarter. That momentum was evidenced by a 26% increase over its first-quarter 2025 deliveries. The OEM’s 29 executive jet deliveries included 16 light jets (one Phenom 100 and 15 Phenom 300s) and 13 mid- and super-midsize jets (nine Praetor 500s and four Praetor 600s), an increase of six aircraft over its first-quarter 2025 total.

The record first-quarter deliveries represent proof that the company’s production leveling strategy is taking hold. “We continue to see tangible progress in production, leveling, and greater stability across our assembly lines,” said Embraer president and CEO Francisco Gomes Neto.

Embraer’s private jet backlog remained unchanged from last year, with the division maintaining $7.6 billion in firm orders. The manufacturer has forecast between 160 and 170 business jet deliveries for this year.

Next year, Embraer expects to level its deliveries between the first and second halves of the year, and it is working with suppliers to meet that goal. Embraer plans to reach a plateau of 200 executive jets delivered annually by 2030.

A subtle shift toward refinancing business aircraft appears to be underway. Although an estimated 70% of aircraft buyers pay cash, these figures do not reflect financing trends I have noticed in loan and lease activity since 2025 amid robust demand for business aircraft. Perhaps this preference for paying cash is softening as buyers conclude that it results in lost financial opportunities, a counterproductive allocation of capital, and a diminution in accumulated wealth.

At a high level, aircraft refinancings fall into two broad categories: secured loans and sale-leasebacks. A refinancing here refers to a loan or lease (financing) completed after the aircraft purchase date. Depending on the owner’s unique situation, refinancing an aircraft generally enables the owner to monetize equity, minimize opportunity costs, and realize other economic and strategic benefits.

Lenders and lessors can provide refinancing when owners plan, among other reasons, to extract cash from a debt-free aircraft—either after a cash purchase or by replacing existing financing to reduce rates or improve terms—to substitute borrower parties, including guarantors, that might occur in corporate restructuring, or to raise cash for a rainy day or other business purposes.

Perhaps the notion of an opportunity cost should be called an opportunity lost. Opportunity cost is the most compelling and obvious factor buyers should consider when purchasing an aircraft with cash (equity) rather than financing or refinancing.

The French navy took delivery of the first of three Pilatus PC-24s from Jet Aviation, the FBO/MRO company announced today. Jet Aviation France and the Direction de la Maintenance Aéronautique (DMAé) inked a contract late last year covering aircraft acquisition, leasing, and ongoing support of the aircraft tailored to the French navy’s operational requirements. Included with the support are onsite dedicated teams to provide maintenance and continuous airworthiness management.

Marine Nationale, the navy's formal designation, will use the PC-24s for pilot training, including instrument flight training, and periodic proficiency checks. In addition, the aircraft will transport urgent cargo. Delivery of the remaining aircraft will follow in subsequent phases.

“This is the culmination of many months of collaboration and partnership between our team, the DMAé, and Pilatus, and it has been a privilege to work together to bring these aircraft into service,” said Jet Aviation president Jeremie Caillet.

The PC-24 fleet is set to grow in military applications with a recent deal announced for the sale of a dozen for the Indonesian Ministry of Defense. Spain is also reported to have ordered the model, which is already in military service in Qatar.

The U.S. Aviation Weather Center (AWC) added mountain wave turbulence to its turbulence product suite on April 30, with the first G-Airmet including the mountain wave tag issued on May 4.

Mountain wave turbulence occurs when air flows over mountainous terrain, creating oscillating atmospheric waves downwind of peaks. These waves can produce severe turbulence at high altitudes, often in clear air where pilots cannot visually detect the hazard. The phenomenon is most common near mountain ranges and can extend significant distances downwind from the terrain that generates it.

The AWC’s Graphical Forecasts for Aviation page provides interactive, real-time maps showing forecasts of light, moderate, and extreme turbulence up to 19 hours ahead. Included in the system are high-altitude and low-altitude toggles and displays of pilot reports.

G-Airmets are graphical advisories of en-route weather phenomena that may affect aircraft safety. The addition of mountain wave turbulence as a distinct category allows more precise identification of this specific hazard, which differs from other forms of turbulence in its causes and geographic distribution.

Part of the National Weather Service, the AWC provides aviation weather forecasts and warnings for the U.S.

West Star Aviation offers a highly requested waste drain valve modification for Hawker operators, providing a more practical and reliable alternative to the original lavatory waste system.

Florida-based FBO chain Sheltair has completed construction of its latest hangar at Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (KECP) near Panama City. The 24,000-sq-ft Hangar 3—which can accommodate up to ultra-long-range business jets—took 18 months to build and is located on the southernmost end of the airport. It brings the 27-acre Sheltair FBO—one of two service providers at KECP—to 52,000 sq ft of aircraft storage space.

KECP—which opened in 2010 and serves the local beach vacation communities—features a 10,000-foot runway. Since there is so much charter activity in this area, Hangar 3—now available for lease—would make a base of operations for several aircraft, the company said.

“This new hangar represents a significant investment in the future of aviation and economic growth at Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport,” said Sheltair property manager Chandler Anderson. “It underscores the airport’s continued growth and evolution, and its readiness to meet the next chapter of aviation demand.”

Canadian biotech company Unither Bioélectronique has made what it claims is the world’s first piloted hydrogen-electric helicopter circuit flight. This was completed on April 10 using a modified Robinson R44, one year after the demonstrator first flew, but not announced until yesterday.

The test flight was conducted under an experimental flight permit as part of the ongoing Project Proticity. Formed in August 2024, this partnership between the United Therapeutics subsidiary and Robinson Helicopters is looking to develop zero-emission helicopters based on the latter company’s R44 and R66.

The hydrogen-electric circuit flight builds on the technology demonstrator first flight in April 2025—a hover that lasted for about three minutes. This was performed using gaseous hydrogen powering two low-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel stacks, with an adjacent battery pack.

Project Proticity now intends to scale the system to the larger R66. Unither’s intended end-use of the aircraft is to “help deliver manufactured organ alternatives to patients in need, while creating a scalable zero-emission transportation network.” The partners are targeting future certification pathways with U.S. and Canadian regulators.

Meanwhile, California company Skyryse has applied for an FAA supplemental type certificate for “installation of novel control inputs and a fly-by-wire system in the R66 helicopter.” This will incorporate Skyryse’s proprietary SkyOS technology, described as “the first fully digitized aircraft operating system that enhances safety and offers optionally piloted capabilities.”

FlightSafety International received FAA approval for its virtual preflight inspection capabilities used in Embraer Legacy 500/Praetor 600, Gulfstream G500/G600, and Cessna Citation Latitude training programs. Virtual Aircraft Preflight Inspection (VAPI) enables pilots in initial training to conduct a 3D VAPI and then transition into the flight deck, where an Evaluation Mode follows for the preflight check ride portion.

“VAPI represents a meaningful advancement in training innovation,” said David Penney, v-p of safety, courseware, and regulatory affairs for FlightSafety International. “By leveraging an immersive 3D environment, it offers pilots a more engaging and practical way to develop aircraft familiarity, strengthen inspection discipline, and better prepare for real-world operations.”

The global training provider is seeking similar sign-off for VAPI capabilities with its Gulfstream G280 and G650 and Dassault Falcon 8X training programs this year. Plans call to follow that with the Pilatus PC-12 and PC-24 and Gulfstream G700/G800 programs, among others.

VAPI is available at certain FlightSafety training centers for the Latitude, while it is available in all centers for Falcon 8X, G280, G500/G600, G650, Legacy 500/Praetor 600, PC-12, and PC-24 training.

The FAA has posted a list of certified aircraft operators on its Safe Air Charter website following recent updates to the resource. Operators, brokers, customers, and industry stakeholders can use the database to verify whether an air charter operator holds a valid FAA certificate. The site also links to a resource that provides additional operator information, including doing-business-as details.

NATA worked with the FAA Safe Air Charter Team and the association’s Air Charter Committee to support improvements to resources aimed at strengthening awareness around compliant charter operations. The association is encouraging air charter operators to review the list, check their information for accuracy, and report any issues. NATA and the Air Charter Safety Foundation also co-host an illegal charter hotline to report violators.

The move follows growing industry concerns about illegal charter activity. A panel at Corporate Jet Investor Miami in November examined informal jet sharing through WhatsApp groups and similar platforms, warning of safety, insurance, and legal risks.

David Hernandez of Vedder Price, who moderated the panel at CJI Miami, pointed out that consumers using illegal jet share services “really have no rights” if something goes wrong. Panelists said the industry must work together to identify compliant operators and emphasized that existing regulations already define legal operations, with enforcement primarily dependent on operator self-policing.

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