Story ID: 029NewJetsAINOct14EditedByAY_NM
New Jets 2014
By: Mark Huber
Caption: Manufacturers see economy and quality of customer service as the biggest drivers behind business jet sales.
Word Count: 588
Think less James Bond, more Captain Value.

New business jets under development have one thing in common: with a laser-like focus on value, almost to the model they have achieved a near-perfect balance of versatility, performance, comfort and costs.

Concern about costs per seat mile used to be the preserve of the airlines. No longer: it has helped define even the Mach 0.935 Cessna Citation X+.

Granted, new technology helps the equation, from better man-machine interface in the cockpit to faster Wi-Fi in the cabin. But while there is no shortage of onboard whiz-bang, from the smallest to the largest airframes, the big differentiator going forward will be customer service and support. It’s not enough to be the fastest and the hippest in the air; you need to stand behind the airplanes with the same vigor and commitment that the U.S. Air Force applied to the Strategic Air Command during the Cold War: anytime, anywhere.

It is no coincidence that Gulfstream and Embraer are selling aircraft as fast as they can make them: both scored market-leading product support in our . Embraer’s case is particularly stunning. Fifteen years ago it wasn’t even in this business and today it claims a 17-percent market share. Honda set up an international service network and built a large OEM service center at its Greensboro, N.C. campus before it has delivered a single aircraft.

To that end, OEMs are changing the way they sell aircraft, with more focus on simplified maintenance and life cycle costs: higher engine TBOs, longer inspection intervals and more requirements for on-condition replacements as opposed to time intervals. In some cases, hourly maintenance programs are wrapped into the purchase price. This trend should increase reliability across the board and inch dispatch rates even closer to 100 percent. Development and certification schedules on select new programs continue to fall behind because of specific financial challenges at select companies, technical difficulties integrating new technologies into airframe, avionics and flight controls, and certification slowdowns attributable to budget and other constraints at both the FAA and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Most of the new jet design activity (either clean sheet or block change) is in the crowded middle market (midsize and super-midsize jets), reflecting the continuing softness in the entry-level sector and the rarefication of the large and jetliner offerings. Bombardier, Cessna and Embraer all have new models under development in what can be called the greater middle market, the most attractive for fractional programs and other fleet customers. These new midsize programs all share certain characteristics: a renewed focus on passenger comfort, with improved seating, larger windows and flat floor cabins. All categories are moving toward touchscreen avionics in the cockpit and more fuel-efficient engines, which translate into better range and times to climb. Winglet design is being revised with more swooping shapes. The large jet market is seeing some action, although less of it: with new programs officially under way at Bombardier and Dassault and the rumor mill running full tilt at Gulfstream. Airbus and Boeing stand ready to offer airliner-class variants with new, more fuel-efficient engines and slipperier wings.

Make no mistake, there’s still plenty of cool factor here; from electrochromic window shades and LED mood lighting in the cabin to stealthily quiet and clean jet engines. But now it’s all wrapped up in a slick package with more attractive economics, even in the age of expensive fuel.