Jet card rates fall to lowest average since late 2023
North American jet card rates averaged $10,958 per hour in Q3, down 3.1% from Q2 and 2.7% from a year earlier, according to Private Jet Card Comparisons.
Read the brief →Today
The Dispatch
A short briefing every morning: what’s new in the world of private jets, plus an aircraft, a priced route, a fact and a story from the archive.
2026-10-12
ONEflight faces lawsuits after halting private-jet flights
ONEflight International and CEO Ferren Rajput face at least four customer lawsuits after the private-jet broker stopped flying in September.
Read the brief →Used business jet deals jump 20% as inventory stays tight
IADA said pre-owned business aircraft deal volume is up more than 20% year over year, with 746 closed deals in Q2 versus 616 a year earlier.
Read the brief →Jet of the day: Gulfstream Aerospace G600
A stretched sibling of the G500, the G600 adds a fourth living area and extra fuel for a 6,600 nm reach at Mach 0.85. Deliveries began in 2019 and the aircraft has effectively replaced the G550 as Gulfstream's high-volume long-range offering, combining GVII-family efficiency with a cabin sized for intercontinental missions. Range 6,600 nm, 14 seats, about $58,000,000 new and roughly $5,300 an hour in fuel and maintenance.
Full profile →Fact of the day
Elvis paid $250,000 for a retired Convair 880 in 1975 and then spent more than three times that on a refit with a queen-size bed and gold-plated seatbelt buckles. (Graceland archives)
More numbers →Route of the day: Shenzhen → Munich
4,851 nautical miles, about 11h 22m in a large jet, roughly $149,911–$233,516 one-way for four — about $47,928 a seat.
Price this route →From the archive, 1996: Global Express first flight; Gulfstream V enters service
Bombardier's Global Express flew on 13 October 1996, while Gulfstream's GV, first flown in November 1995, was certified in 1997 and won that year's Collier Trophy. Together they created the ultra-long-range category: 6,000-plus nautical miles nonstop, enough for New York to Tokyo. The rivalry between the two families has defined the top of the market ever since. Both aircraft introduced glass cockpits, eight-hour-plus missions with crew rest areas and price tags above $35 million, numbers that seemed extraordinary at the time.
The full timeline →Spotlight: Apple Inc. (Tim Cook)’s Gulfstream G650
Since 2017 Apple's board has required Tim Cook to use private aircraft for all travel, personal included, 'in the interests of security and efficiency', and its proxy statements disclose the cost each year (about $767,000 in 2022). Steve Jobs was famously given a Gulfstream V by Apple's board in 1999 as a thank-you for returning to the company.
The story →Hangar talk: “Gulfstream jets have the largest windows in aviation.”
MOSTLY TRUE — Largest in *business* aviation, which is what Gulfstream actually says. The panoramic oval windows on the G500 through G800 measure about 28 by 20.5 inches (71 by 52 cm), roughly three times the glass area of a typical airliner window. Boeing's 787 windows are taller, and cockpit windscreens, helicopter bubbles and observation aircraft beat everyone. But among the jets in this category, Gulfstream's are the biggest.
The evidence →