The new fleet type for Flexjet could possibly be a successor to its Gulfstream 450s or, based on its history, just about anything.
Flexjet is adding a new fleet type.
What’s more, an announcement is expected soon.
Speaking to Forbes about the trend towards faster jets that fly further, the spokesperson said, “Additional Gulfstream G700s are scheduled to arrive this year,” before teasing, “along with a new fleet type to be revealed in the coming weeks.”
The company is expecting to nearly double its current fleet to over 600 aircraft by early next decade.
The spokesperson declined to provide additional details.
So, what could the new fleet type be?
Flexjet currently operates Embraer’s Phenom 300, Praetor 500, and Praetor 600.
The Phenom 100 is the only current type that Flexjet doesn’t operate.
However, since executives say clients are increasingly starting at larger aircraft, a move to the very light jet seems improbable.
That would also be a change from the $7 billion order with Embraer in February 2025.
Flexjet uses Bombardier’s Challenger 3500 as one of two super-mid options.
Still, Bombardier seems an unlikely candidate.
NetJets, VistaJet, and start-up Bond all use Bombardier’s Global ultra-long-range jets as their top-end options.
Adding the Challenger 650, a large cabin jet with limited range, would also seem unlikely.
Either way, tapping Bombardier for a large-cabin jet seems unlikely, even if Flexjet was founded by the Canadian OEM back in the 1990s.
After buying Flexjet from Bombardier in 2012, Chairman Kenn Ricci moved its long-range fleet to Gulfstream aircraft, currently, the G450, G650, and G700.
The G300, a super-midsize jet, seems unlikely, since Flexjet already has two super-midsize options: the Praetor 600 and the Challenger 350 and 3500.
It’s not clear there would be enough G800 availability to build a fleet on top of the G700.
That would leave the G500 and G600.
Flexjet’s pressing need would seemingly be to replace its G450s as they age out of the fractional fleet.
Flexjet recently sold 20 Challenger 300s to Baker Aviation, which had started in the fractional fleet before moving to a supporting role.
The large cabin G450 has a range of around 4,000 nautical miles.
Last September, Ricci said growth was not tied to a fleet order with Gulfstream, although he did not explicitly rule it out.
It has built both its G650 and G700 fleets in part by scouring the pre-owned market for new-vintage aircraft.
A dark horse could be Dassault Falcon, which has wanted to return to the fractional market.
Last year, Flexjet was announced as the first fleet customer for Otto Aviation’s Phantom 3500, a concept jet.
Going outside private jets, Flexjet offers helicopters.
It also has an order for Eve eVTOLs.
It also had an order for the Aerion AS2 supersonic jet before that program shuttered.
So, for the moment, anything is plausible, although, from a practical standpoint, a successor to the G450 is most likely.
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