The Scissortail Brief | August 8, 2026

I had planned to start this week’s Brief by expressing hope that everyone had a relaxing Labor Day like I did, but in light of Sunday’s events, I think it’s more important to take a moment to reflect on the tragic accident involving the Amazon Prime Air Boeing 767 at Miami International Airport. Our deepest sympathies go out to the families and loved ones of those lost, as well as those currently recovering from their injuries. While this tragedy occurred outside our specific industry, the entire aviation community feels the weight of this loss. We stand with everyone affected: the families, the 21 Air and Amazon personnel, and the first responders during this incredibly difficult time.

In our regular programming, the industry sees continued capital investment across multiple sectors this week. According to GAMA’s Q2 report, aircraft deliveries from manufacturers are on the rise. To gain greater control over its supply chain, Bombardier is acquiring an aerostructures supplier. Meanwhile, Honda completes a direct investment in a fractional flight operator. The news cycle also highlights Atlantic Aviation’s transaction at a valuation close to $10 billion. Finally, Sino Jet expands its fleet with a second G700, and NBAA announces BACE OEM lineup and publishes its latest safety statistics.

Let’s get into it…

Prime Air Boeing 767 Overruns Runway at Miami International, Five Dead

A Boeing 767-300 freighter operating as Amazon Prime Air Flight 7598, flown by cargo carrier 21 Air, overran the runway while landing at Miami International Airport at about 2 p.m. local time on Sunday, September 6. The aircraft continued past the airport boundary, crossed a road, struck multiple vehicles and caught fire. More than 60 Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded. Five people were killed and five others were injured, three critically, according to Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins. The FAA issued a ground stop for the airport and closed all runways and taxiways while emergency crews worked the scene.

Amazon said in a statement it is "heartbroken to learn that five people lost their lives in today's incident," adding that the company is working closely with local authorities to determine what happened. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. Early reporting has pointed to thunderstorm activity near the airport around the time of the accident as a possible factor, though it will take investigators months to confirm the cause.

Again, our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy, including the families of those killed, those recovering from their injuries, and the first responders and 21 Air and Amazon personnel now dealing with the aftermath.

GAMA's Q2 Report Shows Deliveries Still on an Upswing

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association released its second-quarter 2026 shipment and billing report September 3, and the industry-wide picture remains healthy through the first half of the year. Manufacturers shipped 1,458 airplanes through Q2, up 1.7% year over year. Business jet shipments rose 8.2% to 383 aircraft, and turboprop deliveries increased 7.8% to 289. Piston airplanes were the exception, declining 3.1% to 786 units. Airplane billings rose 15.5% to $14.3 billion.

Gulfstream delivered 79 aircraft through the first half, Embraer delivered 74, and Bombardier delivered 56. Cirrus reported 405 total shipments, including 57 Vision Jets. Helicopter manufacturers delivered 419 civil aircraft, up 4% from the first half of 2025, with turbine helicopter deliveries up 3.3% to 309.

The report underscores a pattern observed in the Brief recently: aircraft manufacturers are successfully turning strong demand into completed deliveries even amid persistent labor and supply-chain hurdles. Furthermore, as new aircraft shipments accelerate, a steady supply of late-model jets will enter the pre-owned market, an essential consideration for advisors assisting clients with aircraft acquisition schedules.

Bombardier to Acquire Wing Supplier MHI Canada Aerospace

Bombardier and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries announced September 1 that Bombardier has agreed to acquire the assets of MHI Canada Aerospace (MHICA) in Mississauga, Ontario, bringing roughly 750 employees and an aerostructure manufacturing facility in-house. The transaction is expected to close later this year, subject to regulatory approval; financial terms weren't disclosed.

MHICA's 270,000-square-foot Mississauga facility manufactures wings for three current Bombardier programs: the Global 5500, Global 6500 and Challenger 3500. Bombardier framed the deal as strengthening its in-house aerostructures capabilities, manufacturing resilience and supply-chain autonomy. David Murray, Bombardier's executive vice president of manufacturing and supply chain, called it "a key step in Bombardier's long-term growth strategy."

Direct ownership of aerostructures production reflects a clear strategic focus on operational control. This acquisition comes at a pivotal juncture for Bombardier, as the company ramps up Global 8000 production, manages sustained Challenger demand, and expands its special-mission and defense operations. Securing this critical manufacturing asset in-house provides greater supply chain control than a standard supplier contract expansion could offer.

Honda Invests Directly in a Fractional Operator

Thrive Aviation announced September 2 a strategic partnership and minority investment from Arulean Air, a newly formed Honda Aircraft subsidiary, to launch a fractional ownership program. The program will begin with the HondaJet HA-420 and the Bombardier Challenger 3500, with plans to add roughly four to six HA-420s and two to four Challenger 3500s annually as the owner base grows. Thrive has already taken delivery of the first two aircraft, including a Challenger 3500, and will draw on its existing operating platform of more than 30 aircraft.

Under the arrangement, Arulean Air will acquire aircraft for the program while Thrive operates and manages it, including client relationships and flight operations. Thrive has also separately signed a letter of intent for Honda's larger Echelon light jet, currently in development, though the Echelon isn't part of the fractional program at launch. Thrive plans to formally introduce the program at NBAA-BACE 2026 in Las Vegas.

Unlike traditional OEM support, which generally centers on marketing assistance or preferred-provider status, this arrangement marks a clear departure through direct capital investment. By helping capitalize the downstream business model that operationalizes its aircraft, Honda secures a more reliable fleet-sales pipeline as fractional ownership increasingly gains ground over whole-aircraft purchases. Mindful of past challenges with HondaJet fractional ventures, Thrive intends to focus its initial rollout on the Western U.S. market to mitigate operational risk.

Atlantic Aviation's Nearly $10 Billion Valuation, One Week Later

In last week's Brief, we reported Apollo Global Management's acquisition of a co-controlling stake in Atlantic Aviation from KKR, a deal valuing the FBO network at nearly $10 billion. As the transaction closed into this week's broader news cycle, the scale of that figure merits closer examination.

Back in 2021, KKR acquired Atlantic for approximately $4.5 billion when its footprint stood at 69 locations. Today, following five years of strategic growth, the network spans 105 locations, and its valuation has more than doubled. By pointing to durable structural tailwinds in private aviation as the core thesis for this investment, Apollo is placing a substantial institutional bet that business aviation utilization rates will remain well above their pre-2020 baseline.

NBAA's Q2 Safety Data Points to Powerplants and Runway Collisions

NBAA published its Q2 2026 Business Aviation Accident and Incident Analysis on Tuesday, September 1, covering 66 reportable events involving turbine-powered business aircraft from April through June: 42 incidents and 24 accidents. Six accidents were fatal, resulting in 22 deaths.

Powerplant system or component failure was the leading cause among the quarter's fatal accidents. Collisions during takeoff or landing were the most common accident type overall. Bird strikes were involved in 12 events during the quarter. NBAA compiles the analysis from FAA and NTSB data and said the report is meant to help operators identify emerging safety patterns rather than serve as a determination of probable cause; some events may be revised as investigations continue.

The fatal-accident count held steady from the prior quarter. NBAA's Q1 2026 analysis, covering 40 total events (15 incidents, 25 accidents) from January through March, also recorded six fatal accidents. That means the fatal count stayed flat even as total reportable events grew by more than half quarter over quarter, with the increase concentrated in non-fatal incidents rather than accidents.

For Part 135 operators specifically, there's real training and SMS material in this quarter's findings, both on powerplant preflight discipline and on ramp and runway procedures.

Sino Jet Adds a Second Gulfstream G700

Hong Kong and Beijing-based Sino Jet confirmed September 3 that it has taken delivery of a second Gulfstream G700, five months after bringing its first into service. The addition brings Sino Jet's managed fleet to nearly 50 aircraft, more than 95% of them large-cabin jets, a lineup that also includes the G650, G550 and G450.

Industry tracker Asian Sky Group estimated the entire Gulfstream G700 fleet across Asia-Pacific at only about a dozen aircraft by the end of 2025, meaning Sino Jet alone now holds a sizable share of the region's total G700 supply. Bombardier's Global 7500 has found more traction in the region so far, with roughly 46 aircraft in Asia-Pacific at the end of 2025 across operators including Phenix Jet and VistaJet, while the Gulfstream G650ER remains the segment's workhorse by sheer numbers with close to 100 aircraft.

While a single fleet addition rarely makes major headlines, G700 deliveries offer a key indicator of broader trends in the ultra-long-range market: rather than remaining strictly private trophy assets, these aircraft are increasingly entering management and charter fleets, reflecting Gulfstream’s clear expectation of robust, long-term growth across Asia.

NBAA-BACE Confirms Strong OEM Lineup for October Show

NBAA confirmed a substantial exhibitor lineup for NBAA-BACE 2026, running October 20-22 at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Henderson Executive Airport. Confirmed OEMs include Gulfstream, Bombardier, Dassault, Textron Aviation, Pilatus, Honda Aircraft, Piaggio Aerospace and SyberJet.

SyberJet's presence is notable given the company's recent push to raise its profile around the SJ30 program, including its unofficial transcontinental speed claim earlier this month and plans to debut its next-generation SJ36 successor at the show. How aggressively SyberJet uses Henderson to build credibility around both programs will be worth watching.

NBAA is also expanding its maintenance-focused programming this year, adding a Gulfstream Operator Forum and sessions offering IA-renewal credit for maintenance technicians attending the show.

Also Worth Noting

VSE Corporation acquired Atech, a sole-source repair provider supporting Pratt & Whitney PT6, JT15D and other engine applications, a business relevant to the large installed base of King Airs, TBMs, Citations and Learjets still flying. LunaJets reported its best month ever in July, with revenue up nearly 15% year over year, a data point suggesting charter demand remains healthier than some of the softer weekly traffic numbers this Brief has covered would suggest on their own. And Joby Aviation filed to raise as much as $750 million in additional equity despite ending Q2 with about $2.3 billion in cash, a reminder of how capital-intensive the path from eVTOL prototype to certified commercial operation remains.

Fuel: Prices Hold Steady

The national average for Jet-A across 3,207 reporting FBOs was $7.88 per gallon as of September 7, according to GlobalAir, unchanged from the prior week. The Central region remained lowest at $7.23. Alaska remained highest at $9.39. The national average for SAF was $10.09 per gallon.

100LL averaged $7.56 per gallon nationally, with the Central region lowest at $6.91 and Alaska highest at $11.43. Texas and Oklahoma continue to run well below the national 100LL average.

The global average jet fuel price fell 4.3% week over week to $156.85 per barrel, according to IATA's Fuel Price Monitor, the first real pullback this section has reported in several weeks. Both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait remain contested, and it's too early to say whether this week's decline marks a genuine trend or a pause within the broader run-up.

Weather: Late-Summer Heat Lingers Over the Southern Plains

The following is sourced from the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center and Storm Prediction Center, along with NWS Houston/Galveston, current as of September 6.

WPC's extended forecast discussion describes a prolonged late-summer heat wave lingering across the central and southern Plains into the Mid and Lower Mississippi Valley through much of the coming week. Upper-level ridging will maintain hot conditions across the south-central U.S. through the workweek, with any real relief dependent on an uncertain pattern shift over the following weekend.

The Storm Prediction Center flagged scattered strong to severe thunderstorms across the Southeast and Plains states through the remainder of the Labor Day weekend, with a Moderate Risk of excessive rainfall in Iowa. Cooler, unsettled weather is moving through the Great Basin and Intermountain West, with heavy rain over northwestern Montana on Labor Day followed by strong thunderstorms across the Northern Plains Tuesday.

NWS Houston/Galveston reported a Marginal Risk of excessive rainfall for most of southeast Texas, driven by lingering tropical moisture combined with an upper-level disturbance producing another round of scattered showers and storms, especially near and south of I-10. Ground east of I-45 remains heavily saturated from previous rounds of rain, raising the risk of localized street flooding in low-lying and poorly drained areas even from moderate additional rainfall.

For Texas operators: the heat that has dominated this Brief's weather section for most of the summer continues into another week. Build performance planning into shorter-field departures through the week, and watch the saturated-ground flooding risk along the upper Texas coast if routing through southeast Texas.

That's The Brief

The Week in One Sentence: An Amazon Prime Air Boeing 767 overran the runway at Miami International Airport on September 6, killing five people and injuring five others, GAMA's Q2 report showed business jet and turboprop deliveries both climbing through the first half of 2026, Bombardier agreed to acquire wing supplier MHI Canada Aerospace to bring aerostructures manufacturing in-house, Honda Aircraft's Arulean Air subsidiary made a minority investment in Thrive Aviation to launch a HondaJet and Challenger 3500 fractional program, Atlantic Aviation's nearly $10 billion Apollo-backed valuation closed into this week's news cycle, NBAA's Q2 safety analysis flagged powerplant failures and runway collisions as the quarter's leading concerns across 66 reportable events, and Sino Jet added its second Gulfstream G700, pushing its managed fleet to nearly 50 aircraft.