Pre-Owned Aircraft Market Q3 2026: Why Dealer Deals Rise as Transactions Fall

The International Aircraft Dealers Association reports its accredited dealers completed 1,155 transactions in the first nine months of 2026, against 983 in the same period of 2025. Third quarter alone: 409 transactions, against 367 a year earlier.

JETNET, meanwhile, recorded 1,115 pre-owned whole-aircraft transactions in the first half of 2026, down 10.8% from the first half of 2025.

Dealer activity up roughly 17%. Market transactions down nearly 11%.

Both are accurate. Before drawing conclusions, it is worth being precise about what separates them.

These Numbers Do Not Net Against Each Other

The two figures look comparable and are not.

IADA counts transactions completed by its accredited dealer members. JETNET counts whole-aircraft pre-owned sales across the market. The periods differ — nine months against six — and so do the definitions, since a single aircraft sale with a dealer on each side can appear in IADA’s count differently than in a sales tally.

So the absolute numbers cannot be subtracted from one another. What can be compared is the direction each is moving. One population is growing at a double-digit rate. The other is contracting at one.

What That Divergence Suggests

If dealer-completed transactions are rising while total market transactions fall, a larger share of a smaller market is moving through accredited dealers and brokers.

That reading is consistent with what we observed in a single type earlier this month. In our G550 note, JETNET’s market summary showed 20 of the 21 aircraft listed for sale were on exclusive with a broker — 95.2%, against a fleet of 617 in operation.

One type is an anecdote. A dealer association’s nine-month totals across its membership are a second indication pointing the same way. Neither is proof, and we would not present it as a market-wide finding of ours.

The Seller Advantage Is the Strongest in Three Years

IADA’s buyer-seller index sits at 2.65 on a scale where 1 favors sellers and 5 favors buyers. That is down from 3.16 a year ago, and IADA describes it as the strongest seller advantage in nearly three years.

Dealer confidence in current market conditions rose to 3.62 of 5, from 3.45 in the second quarter.

About 60% of respondents expect large-cabin prices to rise over the next six months, which IADA attributes to particularly tight inventory in that category.

The Figure That Interests Us Most

IADA members bought 127 aircraft for their own inventory during the first nine months, and about 30% of participating dealers said they expect to become more willing to acquire inventory.

That is the one number in the report backed by the respondents’ own capital.

A dealer taking an aircraft onto its balance sheet is making a directional bet that it can resell at a profit within a reasonable holding period. A survey response costs nothing to give. Inventory purchases cost money and carry risk. When a third of dealers say they intend to do more of it, that is a more durable signal than any sentiment index.

What To Check

1. If you are selling, reconsider what representation is worth now. The case for selling direct has always been the commission saved. That case weakens if a growing share of qualified buyers is working through the dealer channel.

2. If you are buying, published inventory understates the difficulty. IADA’s members describe limited quality inventory supporting sellers. Narrow your requirements by year, engine program or records quality and the available pool contracts quickly.

3. If you are weighing a year-end closing, the calendar has a cost. Fourth quarter is historically active for depreciation-driven transactions, and a seller holding an index-measured advantage has less reason to concede on timing. Confirm with your advisor whether a 2026 or 2027 closing serves your position.

4. Treat sentiment and capital differently. Confidence indices move with mood. Inventory purchases move with conviction. When reading any dealer survey, separate the two.

The Broader Point

A dealer association reports what its members did. A data provider reports what the market did. Read either alone and you will form a confident view of a market you have seen one part of.

Read together, the picture is narrower and more useful: fewer transactions overall, tighter quality inventory, a measurable swing toward sellers, and a rising share of activity moving through professionals who are now buying aircraft with their own money.

That is not a boom. It is a market getting harder to transact in without help.

Joseph Pennella, Penn Jets LLC

Sources

International Aircraft Dealers Association, Q3 2026 Market Report, published 26 October 2026: nine-month and third-quarter transaction counts, acquisition agreements, inventory purchases, market conditions index, buyer-seller index, and large-cabin price expectations.

JETNET, pre-owned whole-aircraft transactions for the first half of 2026, via the JIQ Market Barometer, July 2026.

JETNET G550 market summary, retrieved 16 October 2026: aircraft in operation, aircraft for sale, and aircraft on exclusive.

General market information only; not tax or legal advice.

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