SCISSORTAIL AVIATION ADVISORS  ·  MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Texas Business Aviation
Q1 2026 Market Report
The definitive quarterly read on BizAv in the Lone Star State: global context, Texas data, and what it means for owners, operators, and buyers.

Published
June 2026
Compiled By
Clayton Corn, CAM  ·  Scissortail Aviation Advisors
Primary Sources
GAMA  ·  Global Jet Capital  ·  AMSTAT  ·  IADA  ·  Aviation Week TAU  ·  FAA  ·  WINGX  ·  ARGUS TRAQPak  ·  TxDOT



TEXAS SPOTLIGHT
Texas Is Running Away from the Rest of the Country
While North American business jet activity grew 1% year over year in early 2026, Texas posted 8% growth over the same period, outpacing Florida (the next closest state at +4%) by a wide margin and running in the opposite direction of California, which declined 2%. On a rolling four-week basis through Q1, the state remained 3% ahead of the same period last year. Those are not rounding-error differences. Texas is structurally outperforming.
+8%
Texas BizAv activity growth, early 2026 YoY
vs. +1% for North America overall
#1
Texas ranks first in the U.S. for total registered aircraft
28,174 registrations
$94.3B
Total economic output from Texas airports (TxDOT study)
Updated study underway in 2026
4
Texas airports in the U.S. Top 25 for business jet departures
More than any other state
Texas +8%, Florida +4%, North America +1%, California -2%.
Figure 1. Year-over-year business jet activity growth by state/region, early 2026. Texas outpaced the national average by 7 percentage points. Source: WINGX tracking data via Icarus Jet, February 2026.
Source: WINGX tracking data, cited in Icarus Jet Texas market analysis, February 2026.
FLEET & REGISTRATION
28,174 Registered Aircraft, and 41% Are Corporate
Texas holds roughly 9.4% of the entire U.S. registered aircraft fleet. That ownership split (41% corporate, 49% individual, with the remainder spread across partnerships, co-owned entities, and government) reflects the state's dual role as both a major corporate flight department hub and a deep market for high-net-worth owner-flown aircraft.
28,174
Total registered aircraft in Texas
11,658
Corporately owned aircraft (41% of total)
13,746
Individually owned aircraft (49% of total)
300
Airports in the Texas Airport System Plan (TxDOT)
Corporate (41%)
Individual (49%)
Other (10%)
Individual 49%, Corporate 41%, Other 10%.
Figure 2. Texas registered aircraft by ownership type, as of March 2025. The 41% corporate share reflects the state's deep concentration of flight departments across the Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Austin metros. Source: AircraftOne.com via FAA registry data.
A new comprehensive economic impact study is currently in progress. TxDOT, working with Texas A&M Transportation Institute and lead consultant Woolpert, completed data collection through end-2025 for a full statewide refresh. Results are expected later in 2026 and will supersede the 2018 baseline figures cited here. Separately, general aviation airports alone account for 48,000-plus jobs and $9.3B in economic output within the Texas economy, a number that will almost certainly move upward in the updated study given the pace of corporate relocations and fleet growth since 2018.
Sources: AircraftOne.com (FAA registry data, updated 3/30/2025); TxDOT Aviation Division; TxDOT Economic Impact page; TxDOT ACIP 2025-2027; Texas A&M Transportation Institute / Woolpert study announcement. Note: A model- and age-cohort breakdown of the Texas fleet requires a direct FAA registry extract not available as a published open-source Q1 2026 table.
DEMAND DRIVERS
100 Fortune 1000 Companies. No State Income Tax. A Pipeline That Keeps Filling.
The demand case for Texas business aviation is not complicated. The state leads the nation in Fortune 500 headquarters. The two largest metro hubs for Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. after New York are both in Texas. Corporate relocations have been running at 63-plus per year. And eight of the nation's fastest-growing cities by total population added between 2020 and 2025 are in Texas. Every one of those trends is a direct input to corporate flight department formation and charter demand.
CORPORATE CONCENTRATION
METRO
FORTUNE 500 HQS
U.S. RANK
Houston
24
#3 nationally
Dallas-Fort Worth
21
#4 nationally
Austin
2 (F500) / 3 (F1000)
Growing
Texas statewide
50+
#1 state
KEY SECTORS DRIVING BIZAV DEMAND
Energy / Oil & Gas
Finance & Capital Markets
Technology
Healthcare
Logistics & Supply Chain
Real Estate
Defense / Aerospace
AgTech
Unlike leisure-heavy markets that swing with the calendar, Texas BizAv demand is structurally consistent. Corporate travel patterns sustain aircraft utilization year-round rather than spiking around holidays and collapsing in January.
Over 300 corporate headquarters have relocated to Texas in the past decade. Dallas, Austin, and Houston ranked among the top five fastest-growing cities for corporate headquarters between 2018 and 2024, while San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego ranked among the top five for losses. That migration has not slowed. DFW headquarters relocations grew more than 70% from 2024 to 2025 alone. Each relocation is a potential new corporate aircraft owner or charter client.
Sources: US500.com (Fortune 500/1000 metro counts, 2026); YTexas.com (100 Texas Fortune 1000 companies, 2025); CRE Daily / CBRE HQ Relocation data (2025-2026); Rise48 Equity Texas Market Update (May 2026); Texas Economic Development Corporation.
AIRPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
The Busiest Private Jet State in America, by a Comfortable Margin
Texas has more airports in the national Top 25 for business jet departures than any other state. Dallas Love Field moved from third to second nationally in 2025, recording 41,379 business jet departures and trailing only Teterboro. The depth of the Texas airport network also means aircraft repositioning between major cities is efficient, which keeps availability high and empty-leg exposure manageable for operators based here.

AIRPORT
DEPARTURES / RANK
2
Dallas Love Field
DAL (KDAL)  ·  Dallas, TX

41,379 departures
#2 U.S.  ·  +2.6% YoY
ADS
Addison Airport
ADS (KADS)  ·  Addison (North Dallas), TX

~120,000 ops/yr
~576 based aircraft  ·  3 FBOs
T25
William P. Hobby Airport
HOU (KHOU)  ·  Houston, TX

Top 25 U.S.
4 FBOs  ·  51+ based charter aircraft
T25
Austin-Bergstrom International
AUS (KAUS)  ·  Austin, TX

Top 25 U.S.
Signature & Atlantic FBOs
T25
San Antonio International
SAT (KSAT)  ·  San Antonio, TX

Top 25 U.S.
Growing Energy / Military demand
Dallas also has a deep bench of relief airports: Addison (ADS), Fort Worth Alliance (AFW), Dallas Executive (RBD), and McKinney National (TKI). Each handles overflow and serves specific mission profiles without touching a commercial terminal. Alliance is particularly relevant for large-cabin and international operations given its long-runway capacity and integrated logistics infrastructure.
Sources: ARGUS TRAQPak 2025 annual rankings (cited in Icarus Jet analysis, February 2026); ADS operations data from FAA and Addison Airport official site; HOU, AUS, SAT Top 25 placement from ARGUS TRAQPak via same source. Exact departure counts for HOU, AUS, and SAT were not published in open sources used here.
NEAR-TERM DEMAND EVENT
The FIFA World Cup Is Coming. Dallas and Houston Are Host Cities.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup runs June 11 through July 19 across 16 cities in three countries. Dallas hosts nine matches at AT&T Stadium including a semifinal. Houston hosts seven at NRG Stadium. Texas is uniquely exposed to both the demand surge and the supply crunch that comes with it.
MARKET IMPACT FORECAST
Industry forecasts project charter demand could rise 200% to 300% on key host-city routes during peak match periods. Dallas semi-final dates (July 14-15) are already tracking 25% to 35% above standard charter rates. Addison Airport (ADS) is the ideal private arrival point for AT&T Stadium: 10 miles, no commercial traffic, three FBOs. Operators sitting on available fleet in Texas this summer will have pricing power they have not seen in years. Aircraft owners on leaseback programs should be having that conversation with their management company now.
TEXAS VENUE SUMMARY
CITY
VENUE
MATCHES
BEST PRIVATE ARRIVAL
Dallas
AT&T Stadium, Arlington
9 incl. semifinal
ADS (Addison)
Houston
NRG Stadium
7 incl. R16
HOU (Hobby)
CHARTER RATE SURGE WINDOWS
EVENT
DATES
RATE PREMIUM
Dallas semi-finals
July 14-15
+25-35%
Quarter-finals
July 10-11
+15-25%
Final weekend
July 18-19
+30-40%
Sources: GlobalAir.com (May 2026); Lineaum World Cup private jet cost guide (May 2026); ACC Aviation World Cup charter guide; Icarus Jet Dallas hub analysis (February 2026). Rate premiums are industry forecasts, not guaranteed rates.
TEXAS MARKET DEVELOPMENT
New Entrants Are Filling the Regional Gap
One data point worth watching: Ladybird Jet, a Texas-based membership aviation company, expanded its semi-private network to Houston in March 2026, creating a three-market corridor connecting Houston, Dallas, and Fredericksburg. The product targets executives who currently lose hours to commercial airport friction on short Texas hops. It is a meaningful signal about unmet demand in the intrastate market.
The Houston-Dallas-Austin triangle is one of the most traffic-intensive intrastate markets in the country. The drive between any two of those cities is three or more hours. Commercial options involve connection-heavy itineraries through major hubs. Semi-private and charter demand on these corridors is genuine, and operators who figure out how to price and schedule for it efficiently have a real business to build. Ladybird's expansion (and the fact that it is making noise nationally with its Fredericksburg route) confirms the appetite exists at price points below full on-demand charter.
Source: Ladybird Jet press release via PR Newswire, March 12, 2026.

GLOBAL MARKET CONTEXT  ·  Q1 2026

Texas does not operate in a vacuum. What follows is the global and national backdrop that sets the context for the state-level numbers above. Source data for all global metrics: GAMA Q1 2026 shipment report, Global Jet Capital Q1 2026 Market Brief, AMSTAT/NAFA Q1 2026, IADA Q1 2026, Aviation Week TAU, FAA Business Jet Report (April 2026 issue).
GLOBAL FLEET & ACTIVITY
36,400 Aircraft. 2.05 Million Hours. North America Still Holds 64%.
36,400
Global in-service fixed-wing BizAv fleet, March 2026
2.05M
Global BizAv flight hours, Q1 2026
+3% YoY
+4.3%
North America bizjet departure growth, Q1 2026 YoY
6.7%
Pre-owned aircraft listed for sale (% of installed base)
Down from 7.2% a year ago
North America 64%
Latin America 15%
Europe 11%
Asia 6%
Africa 3%
Middle East 1%
North America 64%, Latin America 15%, Europe 11%, Asia 6%, Africa 3%, Middle East 1%.
Figure 3. Global in-service fixed-wing business aviation fleet by region, March 2026. North America accounts for nearly two-thirds of the world's business aviation capacity. Source: Aviation Week TAU / MRO Americas business aviation forecast deck.
Utilization data from 2025 showed large jets and single-engine turboprops each up 6% year over year, the two strongest categories. Medium jets grew 5%, small jets 3%, and multi-engine turboprops 1%. For Texas owners operating large-cabin or turboprop equipment, the broader utilization trend supports current aircraft values.
OEM DELIVERIES
Q1 Shipments Came in Strong, Up 22.9% for Business Jets
161
Business jets delivered (GAMA official)
+22.9% YoY
116
Single-engine turboprops delivered
+20.8% YoY
39
Twin-engine turboprops delivered
+14.7% YoY
Textron 53, Gulfstream 32, Embraer 29, Pilatus 28, Cirrus 24, Bombardier 24, HondaJet 7, Dassault 3.
Figure 4. Q1 2026 business jet deliveries by manufacturer. Textron led the quarter at 53 aircraft, with Gulfstream and Embraer close behind. Bombardier's 24 deliveries came against a backlog of $20.3B and a 3.6x book-to-bill. Source: GAMA Q1 2026 Aircraft Shipment and Billing Report; Aviation Week TAU delivery tracker.
MANUFACTURER
Q1 DELIVERIES
BACKLOG / COMMENTARY
Textron Aviation
53
Strong commercial order activity reported
Gulfstream / GD Aerospace
32
1.2x book-to-bill; $26.6B company orders
Embraer
29 exec jets (44 total)
$32.1B backlog, 6th consecutive record
Pilatus
28
High demand; 2025: 82 PC-12 + 50 PC-24
Cirrus
24
SF50 Vision Jets
Bombardier
24
$20.3B backlog; 3.6x book-to-bill; +43% YoY backlog
HondaJet HA-420
7
No public Q1 backlog metric located
Dassault (Falcon 6X)
3
No public Q1 backlog metric located
Sources: GAMA Q1 2026 Aircraft Shipment and Billing Report; Bombardier Q1 2026 results; Embraer Q1 2026 releases; General Dynamics Q1 2026 results; Textron Q1 2026 results; Aviation Week TAU delivery tracker.
PRE-OWNED MARKET
Transactions Down from Peak, Values Still Moving Up
The headline number (pre-owned business jet transactions down 11.4% year over year) sounds worse than it is. Business jet transactions are still running 9.1% above the 10-year Q1 average. The market is not cooling; it is normalizing off a historically elevated pace. Meanwhile, values continued to appreciate and inventory stayed tight.
6.6%
Business-jet inventory as % of active fleet
vs. 8.2% historical average
+3%
Median business-jet values, YoY
+1.5%
Bluebook values, aircraft 12 years old or under, YoY
vs. +0.2% for aircraft 13 yrs and older
333
IADA dealer closed deals, Q1 2026
150 avg days to sell vs. 212 industry
YoY change
vs. 10-yr Q1 avg
All: -10.5% YoY. Business jets: -11.4% YoY, +9.1% vs 10-yr avg. Turboprops: -8.9% YoY, -4.8% vs 10-yr avg.
Figure 5. Pre-owned transaction volume: year-over-year change (red) vs. performance relative to the 10-year Q1 average (green). The YoY decline reflects a pullback from elevated 2024-2025 activity, not a soft market by historical standards. Business jets remain well above the long-run average. Source: AMSTAT Q1 2026 via NAFA.
Younger iron is pulling away from older inventory. Aircraft 12 years and under saw bluebook values rise 1.5% year over year; aircraft 13 years and older held flat at +0.2%. Availability of the younger cohort is just 3.9% of the installed base, compared to 8.2% for older aircraft. If you are sitting on a 2015 or newer asset, you are in the better part of the market. If you are trying to sell something from 2009, the supply-side competition is meaningfully heavier.
IADA DEALER ACTIVITY METRIC
Q1 2026
Closed deals
333
Under contract
235
Retained to sell exclusively
188
New acquisition agreements
167
Avg days to sell, IADA dealers
150 days
Avg days to sell, industry
212 days
Sources: AMSTAT Q1 2026 pre-owned market report (via NAFA); AIN (citing AMSTAT), May 2026; Global Jet Capital Q1 2026 Market Brief; IADA Q1 2026 activity report.
U.S. OPERATIONS & TOP OPERATORS
1.32 Million Business-Jet Operations in Q1. March Accelerated.
1.32M
Total U.S. business-jet operations, Q1 2026
+3.7% YoY aggregate
+7.5%
March 2026 YoY growth, the strongest single month in Q1
1.12M
Domestic operations (85% of total)
202K
International operations
January 417,194, February 417,256, March 488,372.
Figure 6. Monthly U.S. business-jet operations, Q1 2026 (FAA data). January and February held flat year over year before March surged 7.5%, pulling the quarter to a +3.7% aggregate. The March acceleration bears watching as a leading indicator for Q2. Source: FAA Business Jet Report, April 2026 issue.
TOP OPERATOR UTILIZATION
OPERATOR
FLEET
Q1 YOY UTILIZATION
VS. 2019
NetJets
856 aircraft
856

+11%  (+71% vs 2019)
Flexjet
344 aircraft
344

+12%  (+169% vs 2019)
VistaJet
105 aircraft
105

-3%  (+120% vs 2019)
Wheels Up
93 aircraft
93

-40%  (-22% vs 2019)
flyExclusive
51 aircraft
51

-2%  (+98% vs 2019)
NetJets logged just over 200,000 flight hours in Q1 2026, up 71% versus Q1 2019. Flexjet's baseline is even more striking at 169% above 2019 with a fleet less than half the size of NetJets. Wheels Up's -40% year-over-year figure reflects ongoing restructuring rather than market weakness. The company posted $193M in gross bookings at $24,786 per live flight leg. flyExclusive ran 75 hours per aircraft per month on its core fleet and 18,537 total hours for the quarter.
Sources: FAA Business Jet Report, April 2026 issue; Aviation Week TAU Q1 2026 operator utilization data; Wheels Up Q1 2026 earnings release; flyExclusive Q1 2026 results (Sherpa Report).
DATA TRANSPARENCY
What This Report Can and Can't Tell You
Credibility requires honesty about sourcing. Here is exactly where the data in this report comes from and where the gaps are.
DELIVERED FROM OPEN SOURCES
Global fleet size and regional mix  ·  Q1 2026 global flight hours  ·  North America departure growth  ·  GAMA official deliveries by category and model  ·  Pre-owned inventory %, median value direction, and age-band deltas  ·  IADA dealer pipeline  ·  U.S. monthly business-jet operations (FAA)  ·  Top-5 public operator utilization  ·  Total Texas aircraft registrations and ownership type  ·  Dallas Love Field departure count and national ranking  ·  Texas statewide BizAv growth rate (WINGX)  ·  Texas Fortune 500 / 1000 corporate concentration  ·  FIFA World Cup charter demand forecasts
REQUIRES PAID PLATFORMS OR FAA EXTRACT
Texas fleet count by model, category, or age cohort (JETNET / FAA registry extract)  ·  Q1 2026 Texas charter movements by airport (ARGUS TRAQPak / WINGX)  ·  Ranked list of Texas Part 135 operators by Q1 activity  ·  Net new registrations and de-registrations in Texas for Q1 2026  ·  Average transaction prices by category and age cohort  ·  A full top-20 U.S. charter operator ranking
The FAA releasable aircraft registry is refreshed daily and is the authoritative source for fleet counts by model, age, and state. For clients needing precise Texas fleet intelligence for acquisition targeting or competitive analysis, Scissortail can facilitate an extract through appropriate channels.
Scissortail Aviation Advisors
scissortailconsulting.aero  ·  Clayton Corn, CAM  ·  Austin, TX
Vice Chair, South Texas Business Aviation Association
This report is compiled from publicly available sources. It is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal, or financial advice.