Honeywell Aerospace’s latest forecast calls for the delivery of 8,500 new business jets worth $280 billion over the next decade. The Arizona-based engine and avionics maker released the results from its 33rd annual Global Business Aviation Outlook on Sunday night on the eve of NBAA’s Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition in Las Vegas.

The number of jet deliveries it expects in the 2032/2033 timeframe remains unchanged from last year’s prognostication, reaching the 900-per-year unit plateau for the first time since 2008. However, the value has increased slightly.

Imagine if you could move the boundaries of private aviation lift beyond where current fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters can operate. Also imagine if direct carbon emissions from flights could be significantly reduced or virtually eliminated.

That’s what distributed electric propulsion is expected to make possible, and three prime examples can be found this week at NBAA-BACE 2024 in the shape of eVTOL vehicles being developed by Joby Aviation and Lilium, as well as a hybrid-electric STOL design from Electra.

Aviation Partners, an innovator in aircraft winglet technology, is collaborating with 4Air to offer emissions footprint assessments to its clients. The partnership with 4Air, a provider of aviation sustainability solutions, aims to help aircraft operators better understand and manage their environmental impact.

Noting its winglet technology has contributed to reducing more than 150 million tons of carbon emissions since 1992, Seattle-based Aviation Partners will now provide new clients with 4Air-certified sustainability tracking for one year following winglet installation. These assessments will give operators detailed insights into their carbon footprint, with the goal of guiding them toward compliance with aviation sustainability regulations.

Preowned business aircraft transactions remain on the upswing, increasing by 24% through the first three quarters of the year for accredited International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA) members, according to the organization.

Releasing its third-quarter 2024 preowned aircraft market report on Monday in Las Vegas at the NBAA’s 2024 edition of BACE, IADA reported 847 business aircraft transactions were under contract through the first three quarters, compared with 704 in the same period in 2023.

NBAA has added to the ranks of its Leadership Council, which consists of executives from more than 140 member companies. At the 2024 BACE show, the industry association is announcing the appointment of the following five companies: aircraft sales broker JetAviva, Concorde Battery Corporation, software specialist Web Manuals, business aviation services group Clay Lacy Aviation, and FBO operator Million Air.

According to NBAA, the Leadership Council’s advocacy role has become more critical as the industry faces criticism over issues such as the environmental impact of aviation and social justice. Its members have articulated the industry’s role as a generator of innovation, sustainability, and opportunities for future aviation professionals. They collaborate with the association’s government affairs team through campaigns such as No Plane No Gain and Climbing Fast.

Sky Harbour is rapidly expanding its footprint in the U.S., delivering high-end, boutique private hangar space for aircraft owners at key airports across the country. Since launching in 2020, the company has opened four locations, including in Houston, Nashville, Miami, and San Jose, with three more slated to open in Denver, Phoenix, and Dallas by early 2025. Each campus represents a significant investment, costing between $30 million and $50 million to build, and includes more than 100,000 sq ft of hangars staffed by a dedicated ground handling team available 24/7.

CEO Tal Keinan emphasized the company's commitment to reliability: “There’s no such thing as waiting—we will always be there on time,” he said. “It’s got to be bulletproof from end to end, and that means we need to control it. The fact that we can make a hard commitment to our residents says you can be as spontaneous as you want to be; those call-out times are just not a thing with us.”

Global medical and safety services provider MedAire is building a peer-to-peer support network for flight crews with OdiliaClark. MedAire announced the partnership in May on the heels of the FAA's announcement of new mental health guidelines that the agency published this spring.

The peer-to-peer support option is available to flight crew members whose employers contract with the company. Volunteers provide real-time support globally for needs ranging from someone who doesn’t have anyone to vent to and simply needs a sympathetic ear, to someone who may have dealt with an onboard medical emergency and needs emotional and mental support in the aftermath, or someone who may have landed far from home and received bad news on arrival.

For FBOs and other hangar keepers, new suites of technologies are being developed to help increase safety and logistics. Known as hangar management systems, the functionality of these emerging products ranges from reducing the potential for hangar rash to providing exact aircraft occupancy levels to increase revenue.

One of the newest—Sky View by Georgia-based Fyve By—is wrapping up a year-long beta test program involving 11 hangars operated by FBOs, MROs, and corporate flight departments dealing with “about a quarter billion dollars' worth of airplanes,” according to company co-founder and CEO Benjamin Youngstrom.

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