Industry brief
NBAA-BACE wraps: Gulfstream eyes a 200-jet production rate as crew pay keeps climbing
Las Vegas closed with Gulfstream talking about scaling toward 200 deliveries a year, a compensation expert warning flight departments that 3–4% raises may not hold staff, and Cirrus marking ten years of the Vision Jet.
4 min read · 2026-10-23
Lead
NBAA-BACE 2026 wrapped up in Las Vegas this week, and the closing coverage carried three signals that matter to anyone buying, selling or operating charter lift over the next few years.
Gulfstream is building for a bigger fleet
Gulfstream is building for a bigger fleet. Gulfstream President Mark Burns told reporters at the show that the company expects to deliver about 160 jets this year, and that its facilities were designed so output can scale toward roughly 200 aircraft a year. For brokers and operators, a larger new-delivery stream from the top of the market means more large-cabin and ultra-long-range aircraft entering fleets and, over time, more preowned Gulfstreams coming back into charter and resale inventory.
Crew costs are not settling down
Crew costs are not settling down. AirComp founder Dr. Chris Broyhill told AvBrief that business aviation wages are still rising faster than expected, and that flight departments budgeting only the traditional 3–4% annual raises risk falling behind on hiring and retention. Operators should expect that pressure to keep showing up in hourly rates and crew availability, especially for peak-season and short-notice trips.
The Vision Jet turns ten
The Vision Jet turns ten. Cirrus celebrated a decade of the SF50 Vision Jet at the show, with more than 800 aircraft delivered and growing use in charter, business and special-mission flying. The single-engine personal jet is increasingly part of the entry-level charter conversation for short regional legs.
What comes next
The week also kept attention on what comes next: sessions examined proposed rules and new technology to widen beyond-visual-line-of-sight drone operations, and what airports and FBOs need to accommodate advanced air mobility vertiports, following the FAA's special certificate for BETA Technologies' Alia announced earlier in the show.
What Jet Intelligence readers should take away
What it means for brokers and operators: plan for firmer crew-driven pricing in the near term, and expect large-cabin supply to grow gradually as Gulfstream ramps up.
Source note
Sources: NBAA-BACE Insider Daily (NBAA), 22 October 2026; AIN (Gulfstream production rate); AvBrief.com (AirComp wage growth); AVweb (Cirrus Vision Jet anniversary). Summary and analysis by Jet Intelligence. This brief is an original rewrite and is not a verbatim reproduction of those publications.