Global aircraft brokerage Jetcraft of Raleigh, North Carolina, is introducing its JetCoast completions program, a refreshed facet of its acquisition services, at EBACE 2014.
An alliance between the company, Jet Aviation (Booth 418), and Bombardier Aerospace (Booth 6656), JetCoast offers buyers customized completions on new Challenger series and Global XRS jets. Under the program, Jetcraft (exhibiting at the Static display) buys green aircraft from Bombardier and oversees the completions, which are performed at Jet Aviation’s facility in St. Louis, Missouri. The prices are about the same through either channel (Jetcraft is asking for $44 million for a JetCoast Global 5000 and $54 million for a JetCoast Global 6000), but Jetcraft can offer customers more customization and faster delivery than available through Bombardier, according to the company.
“We’re in our first two JetCoast Globals,” said Jetcraft president Chad Anderson, who sees the program as a win-win-win for customers, Bombardier and Jetcraft. “The OEM already has a strong backlog of aircraft and lots of institutional buyers [that don’t need or want customization],” he said. “It’s easier for the OEM to complete those aircraft on order rather than do near-term delivery with frequent changes to the specs,” as often happens with custom completions.
The program actually dates to early this century, Anderson said, as an alternate completion channel for Challenger 604s. Jetcraft eventually completed and sold 30 new 604s before moving into Challenger 605s and selling close to another 20. “Here we are in 2014, and now Jetcraft clients have evolved into more and more global aircraft, so we’re moving into the Global 5000 and Global 6000,” Anderson said. “It’s the natural next step from the earlier days.”