Effects of COVID-19 on the industry:
- 4 of 5 operators in the survey said their buying plans have not been affected by COVID-19. Most of the operators who indicated their buying plans have been affected say they now plan to hold onto their current aircraft longer.
- 82% of respondents in North America expect to operate their business jets less frequently in 2020 versus 2019. Other regions are seeing similar declines. Global business jet usage is expected to recover to 2019 levels by the second half of 2021.
- Survey respondents did not signal sales of late-model aircraft due to COVID-19. Specifically, only 10% of all respondents in the survey are planning to sell one or more aircraft without replacement in the next five years compared with 8% in last year’s survey.
- Survey responses do not support the hypothesis that a decline in commercial travel has led to an increase in purchases of business jets. More than 95% of operators expect no change to fleet size due to a decrease in commercial travel.
Breakdown by Region
North America – Compared with last year,new aircraft acquisition plans in North America are flat.
- New jet purchase plans remain unchanged in North America in this year’s survey. Over the next five years, 15% of the fleet is expected to be replaced or supplemented with a new jet purchase.
- About 32% of operators responding to the survey plan to schedule their new purchases within the first two years of the five-year horizon. This is 4 percentage points lower than in last year’s survey.
- Purchase plans for used jets are lower, down 8 percentage points when compared with last year’s survey but back to historical levels as last year saw a five-year high.
- An estimated 64% of worldwide demand for new jets will come from North American operators over the next five years, up 4 percentage points compared with last year’s survey.