The Scissortail Brief | April 27 – May 3, 2026

May the Fourth be with you.

Welcome to the Star Wars Day edition of the Brief. This week, Spirit Airlines ceased operations in the early hours of Saturday morning after a $500 million federal bailout collapsed, putting roughly 2,000 pilots and 17,000 total employees out of work overnight. Gulfstream posted its highest first-quarter delivery count in company history. Florida signed a law banning airports from using ADS-B data to charge landing fees. IADA published its Q1 2026 pre-owned market report. And the Kentucky Derby ran at Churchill Downs, with numbers to follow next week.

So read on, BizAv people. The Force is strong with this one.

Industry: Spirit Airlines Shuts Down

At 3:00 a.m. Eastern on Saturday, May 2, Spirit Airlines ceased all operations.

The airline had filed for bankruptcy twice since 2024. Its restructuring plan assumed Jet-A at roughly $2.24 per gallon in 2026. By the end of April, commercial Jet-A was running around $4.51 per gallon, a direct consequence of supply disruption tied to the Iran conflict and the Strait of Hormuz situation. The gap between those two numbers is where Spirit ran out of road. No Jedi mind trick was going to close that spread.

The Trump administration had been in talks for weeks over a $500 million bailout that would have given the federal government up to a 90% stake in the airline. Bondholders rejected the proposal. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called Spirit CEO Dave Davis on Thursday evening to confirm there was no deal. Spirit's final flight landed at Dallas-Fort Worth, where ATC said goodbye to the crew.

Spirit's statement: "It is with great disappointment that on May 2, 2026, Spirit Airlines started an orderly wind-down of our operations, effective immediately."

What this means for the business aviation pilot market

Roughly 2,000 Spirit pilots are now on the market. At the end of 2025, Spirit's pilot workforce had been reduced to approximately 2,000 following nearly 4,000 job cuts and 200 route exits during bankruptcy proceedings.

These are ATP-qualified, Airbus type-rated pilots with significant turbine time. Most of them will be absorbed by the major and regional carriers quickly. Delta, United, American, and JetBlue all announced preferential interview tracks for Spirit employees within hours of the shutdown.

The pilot shortage that drove bizav hiring in 2022 and 2023 was partly a function of the airline side pulling hard on the same pool. When 2,000 experienced turbine pilots re-enter the market simultaneously, that could ease some of the pressure. Flight departments and Part 135 operators that have been stretching to fill captain seats may find the near-term environment more workable, at least until the majors absorb most of the pool.

Spirit's pilot contract was competitive. Captains were earning in the range of $200,000 or more annually, and the work rules were considered among the better ones in the ultra-low-cost segment. Some of those pilots, particularly those who have been through two bankruptcies in 18 months, may find corporate or charter operations worth a second look. The lifestyle argument for business aviation has historically made some headway with airline pilots in exactly this kind of moment.

This isn't a flood of candidates dropping resumes on flight department doors tomorrow. The majors will move fast and will absorb the bulk of them. But for operators actively hiring, the next 90 days could be an opportunity to turn several out-of-work, experienced pilots from the Dark Side to the Light.

OEM: Gulfstream Posts Record Q1 Deliveries

General Dynamics reported Q1 2026 earnings on April 29.

Gulfstream delivered 38 aircraft in Q1 2026, its highest first-quarter delivery figure ever. Of those, 31 were large-cabin and seven were midsize. That compares with 36 total deliveries in Q1 2025. Aerospace revenues came in at $3.3 billion, up 8.4% year over year. General Dynamics CEO Danny Deep said the 38 deliveries were exactly as planned.

Gulfstream's full-year target is approximately 160 deliveries, in line with 2025. The backlog remains healthy. The G800 and G700 continue to anchor the large-cabin production run, with the G400 still in development and expected to enter service later this year.

For buyers and advisors watching the pre-owned market, steady new delivery volume is one of the factors that keeps large-cabin inventory from tightening further. Gulfstream hitting its delivery cadence consistently affects the used market as much as the new order book.

Safety: NBAA on Human Factors in Business Aviation

On April 27, the NBAA Safety Committee published an analysis of NTSB data identifying the top three human factors contributing to business aviation incidents.

The analysis offers practical strategies and training recommendations aimed at addressing the human factors that most frequently appear in the NTSB's business aviation incident record.

The publication didn't name the three factors explicitly in the release, but the NBAA framing around loss-of-control inflight (LOC-I) and controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) suggests situational awareness, task saturation, and continuation bias are likely in the mix. Those three have consistently topped NTSB bizav causal factor lists for the better part of a decade.

The full analysis is available through NBAA's safety resources. For operators doing recurrent training planning, it's a useful framework for prioritizing scenario content beyond the regulatory minimums.

Regulatory: Florida Bans ADS-B-Based Landing Fees

On April 23, Governor DeSantis signed S.B.422 into law, prohibiting Florida airports from using ADS-B data to calculate or collect fees from aircraft owners and operators. The law takes effect July 1, 2026, and applies to aircraft weighing 12,499 pounds or less operating under Part 91. It covers landing fees, touch-and-go fees, and charges tied to entering a defined radius of airport airspace. Airports can still charge fees through other methods; what the bill stops is using ADS-B as the billing mechanism.

Florida is the second state to pass this kind of restriction, following Montana in 2025. About 100 airports were using ADS-B to calculate and collect fees by the end of 2025. Kissimmee Gateway (KISM) was among the most visible examples, charging $3 per 1,000 pounds of gross weight for transient aircraft, tracked via a third-party ADS-B vendor.

The FAA Administrator has said using ADS-B for fee collection isn't the intended use of the system. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy called for it to be prohibited at a Senate hearing in February. The concern from a safety standpoint: if pilots associate ADS-B with billing, some may be less inclined to equip or use it properly. Using a safety system as a toll booth is about as welcome as a TIE Fighter at a fuel farm.

At the federal level, the Pilot and Aircraft Privacy Act (PAPA) would put a uniform nationwide restriction in place. It's gained support in both chambers and could move as standalone legislation or attach to another aviation bill. More than a dozen states are considering or have introduced similar measures, including Arizona, Oklahoma, and Minnesota.

For Part 91 operators in Florida, the practical effect on July 1 is that airports subject to the new law will need to track transient aircraft through other means if they want to continue charging fees. Whether some airports drop the fees entirely or shift to alternative tracking methods will play out over the summer.

Market: IADA Q1 2026 Report

The International Aircraft Dealers Association published its Q1 2026 market report on April 28. IADA members closed 333 transactions in Q1 2026, up from 316 in Q1 2025. New acquisition agreements rose from 134 to 167 year over year.

Inventory remains tight across nearly all segments, from turboprops through large-cabin jets. Late-model, well-maintained aircraft continue to command premium pricing with limited negotiation room. The number of listings that reduced prices in Q1 dropped from 43 in Q1 2025 to 26 this quarter.

The number of deals that fell apart increased from 37 to 49 year over year, which the report ties to buyers taking a more measured approach in response to geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty. IADA chair John Odegard described the overall tone as "measured confidence."

100% bonus depreciation, included in the Big Beautiful Bill, was cited as helping support demand. Tariffs, fuel costs, and international conflict were named as the primary headwinds. The pace of new aircraft deliveries and equity market performance were cited as tailwinds.

IADA dealers scored the current market at 3.6 out of 5, down slightly from Q4 2025.

Traffic: Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby ran May 2 at Churchill Downs. Full private jet traffic actuals from WingX and ARGUS aren't in yet, but we'll have the numbers next week. After the Masters came in below forecast, the Derby is the next data point worth watching on high-concentration event traffic. We'll revisit it in the next Brief.

That's The Brief

Spirit's shutdown is the story of the week by a wide margin. The IADA Q1 report gives a current read on where pre-owned values and transaction activity stand. The Florida ADS-B bill is one to watch as the federal version works its way through Congress. Derby traffic numbers come next week. And as always, fly safe out there. We'll be back next week. Same bat-time, same bat-channel. Wrong franchise, but you get the idea.

The Week in One Sentence: Spirit Airlines ceased operations on May 2 after a $500 million bailout collapsed, putting 2,000 pilots on the market with near-term implications for bizav hiring, Gulfstream posted its best Q1 delivery count ever at 38 aircraft, Florida banned ADS-B-based airport fees effective July 1, and IADA reported 333 pre-owned transactions in Q1, up from 316 a year ago, with inventory still tight and buyer confidence described as measured.