Citation CJ4 Hits 500 Deliveries as Textron's Gen3 Closes on Certification

Wednesday's business aviation headlines, private-first.

Textron Aviation delivers the 500th Citation CJ4 as the Gen3 nears certification

Textron Aviation marked the 500th delivery of its Citation CJ4 series on 17 August, handing a CJ4 Gen2 to a Philippines-based customer. The company says CJ4 Gen3 flight testing has passed 880 hours across two aircraft and remains on track for FAA certification this year, bringing the G3000 PRIME flight deck with Emergency Autoland, 2,165 nm of range and seating for up to 11. For owner-operators, the Gen3 is the clearest signal yet that single-pilot light jets are inheriting large-cabin avionics.

Bombardier's Global 8000 claims a new Los Angeles-Farnborough speed record

Bombardier's Mach 0.95 flagship flew LAX to Farnborough in 8 hours 46 minutes, according to Corporate Jet Investor. The type entered service in March with NetJets as fleet launch customer, and has since reached Africa and Asia; VistaJet is converting all 18 of its Global 7500s to the 8000 standard this year. Ultra-long-range city pairs that used to require a tech stop are steadily becoming non-stop.

Preowned jet inventory is down 23% year over year, tightening the resale market

Sandhills Global data for July shows used jet inventory off 22.97% year on year and down 1.23% month on month, with asking prices up 3.02% month on month. AMSTAT put Q2 preowned transactions up 11.2% year on year, and IADA brokers reported first-half sales up 21%. Buyers should expect thinner selection and less negotiating room into Q4.

US charter and fractional departures rose 8% year over year in week 32

Private Jet Card Comparisons logged more than 78,000 global private departures in the week ending 9 August, up 2.3% year on year. US fractional and charter flights hit 30,707 departures - an 8% jump driven by double-digit growth in Florida, California and Texas. Europe moved the other way, down 3%, with Germany off 16%.

Starlink's doubled aviation pricing is splitting operators on who absorbs the cost

SpaceX's aviation price increase took effect on 7 August: Global Unlimited moves to $20,000 a month from $10,000, hardware and installation now runs up to $200,000, and a new regional plan lands at $12,500. Flexjet says it will absorb the increase for fractional owners while Nicholas Air has paused installations outright. Expect connectivity to show up as a line item in charter quotes and fractional renewals.

NBAA publishes second-half 2026 SIFL rates for personal-use flights

NBAA released the Standard Industry Fare Level rates for the back half of 2026 on 17 August. Flight departments and owner-operators use SIFL to value non-business use of company aircraft for tax purposes, so the numbers feed directly into year-end imputed income calculations.

FAA and Ohio senators push back on closing Burke Lakefront Airport

NBAA welcomed opposition from the FAA and both Ohio senators to proposals to close Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport, a reliever field heavily used by business aircraft. Reliever closures remain the quiet structural risk to private access in major metros.

FAA hits 94% of its air traffic controller hiring goal

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA has brought on more than 2,000 new controllers this year - the agency's highest-ever annual intake - under an initiative targeting candidates with videogame experience. Staffing depth is what determines whether GA and bizav slots survive when a facility goes short-handed.