The Scissortail Brief | May 25–31, 2026

With kids out of school and summer upon us, the BizAv family is busy. The World Cup is two weeks out. CBP is under pressure. An Ebola outbreak in Africa has NBAA issuing operator advisories. The DHS is floating a proposal that would gut customs operations at major gateway airports, and NBAA is fighting it. And in Massachusetts, a business aviation association just canceled their annual event because activists bought tickets to it. It's been that kind of week.

Regulatory: NBAA Opposes DHS Proposal to Cut CBP Operations

On May 29, NBAA joined a coalition of leading aviation, travel, and business organizations in formally opposing a Department of Homeland Security proposal that would significantly curtail Customs and Border Protection operations at U.S. airport ports of entry.

The coalition warned that reducing CBP operations at major gateway airports would create chaos throughout the national air transportation system, adversely affecting travelers, businesses, supply chains, and airport operations nationwide.

Dedicated GA customs facilities at key ports of entry are how bizav clients clear internationally without routing through commercial terminals, and how operators maintain the flexibility and schedule integrity that justifies the cost of private aviation in the first place. If DHS pulls back CBP staffing at major gateways, international bizav operations take the hit directly.

NBAA has the CBP General Aviation Airport Fact Sheet resource, updated in real time, available to members. With this proposal still in play, international operators should review which facilities they're relying on and understand what a reduced-staffing scenario could mean for their specific routes.

Regulatory: Ebola Outbreak and New Entry Requirements

Also on May 29, NBAA issued an operator advisory noting that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has implemented arrival restrictions for passengers traveling from Ebola-affected countries in Africa. As of the advisory, flights arriving from those countries must land at one of four designated DHS airports, with JFK listed as the primary port of entry.

NBAA noted that at least one member company was directly affected by unexpected changes to the designated arrival airports after having already arranged landing rights and customs clearance at a different facility. Operators should actively monitor the advisory because the designated airports are subject to change, and routing changes can occur without significant advance notice.

For operators doing any flying to or from sub-Saharan Africa, or transporting passengers who have been in affected countries, reviewing the NBAA advisory before each trip is the appropriate protocol right now.

Industry: MBAA Cancels Annual Event Over Security Concerns

The Massachusetts Business Aviation Association abruptly canceled its 2026 annual Aviation Day event after learning that at least one organized protest group had purchased tickets with the explicit intent of staging a disruption from inside the event.

MBAA is a Boston-area nonprofit focused on advocating for business and general aviation interests across the Commonwealth. The Aviation Day event is one of their marquee gatherings of the year, pulling together corporate flight departments, charter operators, FBOs, manufacturers, and aviation professionals from across New England.

Reporting indicates that organizers discovered the ticket purchases in advance and made the decision to cancel rather than attempt to run the event under those circumstances. MBAA has not publicly identified the group or groups involved, nor has a specific organization been confirmed by name. But the broader landscape makes the likely candidates apparent.

The coalition of climate activist organizations that has been targeting business aviation events in Europe and the U.S. for the past several years includes Extinction Rebellion, Scientist Rebellion, Stay Grounded, and the Make Them Pay campaign. These groups coordinated the 2023 EBACE disruption in Geneva, in which approximately 100 activists chained themselves to aircraft on static display and caused damage to several Gulfstream jets. That incident was a significant factor in the long deterioration of EBACE that eventually led to its cancellation in April. The same constellation of groups has targeted private jet terminals in the U.S., including Teterboro, Farnborough, and Luton, and has previously infiltrated business aviation conferences in Brussels.

The inside-ticket approach is a tactical evolution from the external blockade model that those groups have previously relied on. Purchasing event credentials to gain venue access, then staging a disruption from the floor rather than from outside the perimeter, is harder for organizers to prevent and more disruptive to the event format once it's underway. MBAA's decision to cancel rather than proceed under those conditions is a reasonable call, but it also illustrates how the pressure on business aviation advocacy organizations has expanded from targeting physical infrastructure to the industry's social and professional infrastructure.

The MBAA is not the first U.S. bizav organization to face this kind of targeting, and it won't be the last. Industry organizations will have to think differently about event security, ticketing controls, and contingency planning as this pressure increases.

Down here in Texas, the cultural headwinds and political landscape are different. Business aviation is woven into the fabric of how this state operates, and elected officials here generally understand what a flight department does for a company and an economy. In a state built on petroleum, ranching, and agriculture, moving people and equipment quickly across vast distances is simply how business gets done. We have our loud detractors, same as anywhere, but Texas is a friendlier place to fly, operate, and advocate than most of the country. That doesn't mean we get to sit out the national conversation. The activist playbook is getting more sophisticated, and the pressure on the industry's image is national regardless of zip code.

The answer is to keep telling the story clearly and consistently: bizav connects communities that airlines don't serve, moves executives and medical teams and relief supplies on timelines commercial aviation can't match, supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across manufacturing, maintenance, and operations, and represents a fraction of global aviation emissions while continuing to make real progress on SAF adoption, engine efficiency, and electrification. Organizations like STXBAA, MBAA, and NBAA exist precisely to ensure the story is told before someone else tells a different one.

NBAA: New Management Guide and ATC Modernization Tracker

Two items from NBAA's busy week.

On May 28, NBAA released an updated Management Guide, described as the most comprehensive revision in the guide's history. The guide covers the full range of business aviation management topics, updated to reflect the current regulatory, tax, and operational environment. It's available to members through the NBAA portal.

On May 29, NBAA launched a new public website dedicated to tracking ATC modernization progress across the National Airspace System. The site provides real-time updates on infrastructure replacement, hiring milestones, and technology deployments. Given the ongoing back-and-forth between the FAA and NATCA over staffing targets, having a centralized, publicly visible tracker is a useful advocacy tool for the industry. It also gives operators a place to point clients and legislators who want to understand why ATC modernization is not a background issue.

Fuel: May Average Confirmed, Prices Stable

The May 2026 monthly average for Jet-A at U.S. FBOs came in at $8.57 per gallon, per ARGUS data from more than 200 reporting FBOs. That's down 6 cents from April's decade high of $8.63, but up $2.09 year over year.

As of May 25, the national average sits at $7.96 per gallon across 3,181 reporting FBOs per GlobalAir. The Central region remains the low at $6.93. Alaska is highest at $9.00.

The Western Pacific region saw the largest monthly increase in May, up 39 cents from April. The Great Lakes saw the largest decrease, down 47 cents. No resolution is in sight on the Strait of Hormuz supply disruption, and the market continues to treat current pricing as the planning baseline.

Traffic: World Cup Countdown and Year-to-Date Trends

The FIFA World Cup opens June 11. That's 13 days from today. With 16 host cities across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, the tournament is shaping up as the largest concentrated demand event North American bizav has faced in decades. WingX data from prior World Cup finals shows fuel uplift surges of up to 12.9 times normal at host airports during the final. Charter demand on key host-city routes is forecast to surge 200-300% during the knockout rounds.

For operators who haven't locked in aircraft and FBO slots yet, the window is closing. Preferred positioning, competitive pricing, and slot availability are all going quickly as the tournament approaches.

Year-to-date through Week 18, worldwide private jet departures are tracking 4.6% ahead of 2025. North America continues to lead. Large-cabin softness persists as the one segment running below the broader market trend.

Weather Brief: Memorial Day Through June 1

Memorial Day weekend brought the weather forecast we covered last week to life. Heavy rainfall moved from Texas to New England across the extended holiday weekend, with multiple rounds of downpours triggering flash flooding across parts of Texas, western Tennessee, and Kentucky. The Northeast saw its wettest Memorial Day Sunday in several years.

Heading into the first days of June, the pattern is transitioning. A frontal system is clearing the East Coast, with improving conditions from the Mid-Atlantic northward through Wednesday. The Southeast remains active with afternoon convection as surface heating builds, particularly over Florida and coastal Georgia. The Gulf Coast is watching a disturbance in the western Gulf that has a low probability of tropical development but is worth monitoring for anyone operating in that corridor through the weekend.

The Plains and Central U.S. are dry and warming sharply as high pressure builds. Temperatures in the Texas corridor will be approaching triple digits by the weekend, with surface haze and high density altitudes at lower-elevation airports becoming operational considerations.

The West remains quiet. Good flying conditions from the Rockies west through the end of the week.

That's The Brief

The DHS/CBP proposal is the most operationally immediate issue this week for anyone doing international flying. The Ebola advisory is a close second for operators in that space. The MBAA cancellation is the story that will have the longest tail, because it represents something new in how activist pressure on business aviation operates in the United States. The World Cup is two weeks out, and the planning window has not been longer than it is right now.

The Week in One Sentence: NBAA joined a coalition opposing a DHS proposal to cut CBP airport operations, issued an Ebola entry advisory affecting international routes, the MBAA canceled its annual event after a protest group purchased tickets to disrupt it from the inside, May's Jet-A average was confirmed at $8.57 per gallon, and the FIFA World Cup opens in 13 days with charter demand on key host-city routes forecast to surge 200-300% in the knockout rounds.