Aircraft Inventory Levels Resume Slow Ascent While Asking Values Remain Stable

The newest aviation market reports from Sandhills Global show increases in inventory levels consistent with normal seasonal activity. Inventory drawdowns are typical toward the end of each calendar year while inventory levels begin to grow in February and March. Asking values, meanwhile, remain steady. Sandhills’ market reports cover the used jet, piston single, and turboprop aircraft categories, as well as Robinson piston helicopters, in Sandhills marketplaces.

“As used aircraft inventory levels regain their upward trend, asking values have remained steady year over year,” says Controller Department Manager Brant Washburn. “We saw turboprop aircraft inventory availability bounce back considerably in February.”

Sandhills’ aviation products include Controller, Controller EMEA, Executive Controller, Charter Hub, Aviation Trader, Aircraft Cost Calculator, and AircraftEvaluator. AircraftEvaluator is Sandhills’ proprietary asset valuation tool for all types of aircraft, built using the same technology behind FleetEvaluator. Widely used and trusted across equipment, truck, and trailer industries, FleetEvaluator identifies asset values with unparalleled accuracy.

The key metric used in all of Sandhills’ market reports is the Sandhills Equipment Value Index (EVI). Buyers and sellers can use the information in the Sandhills EVI to monitor equipment markets and maximize returns on acquisition, liquidation, and related business decisions. The Sandhills EVI data include equipment available in auction and retail markets, as well as model year equipment actively in use. Effective with the January 2024 EVI, Sandhills introduced version enhancements and weighted adjustments. All historic EVI metrics were amended and recalculated back to 2005, and all calendar year 2024 EVI releases will include these enhancements; as a result, prior numbers will not be comparable to the new, more insightful values.

Additional Market Report Takeaways

This report includes detailed analysis of asking values and inventory trends in used aircraft markets along with charts that help readers visualize the data. It describes and quantifies important trends in the buying and selling of used jet, piston single, turboprop, and Robinson piston helicopter aircraft.

Global Used Jets

The used jet market experienced positive increases in February, up 0.14% M/M and 9.63% YOY, but the market is still trending down.
Asking values continued to trend sideways, posting a 2.69% M/M increase and a 2.42% YOY decrease. Asking values are trending sideways.

Chart showing current inventory and asking value trends for used jet aircraft.

U.S. & Canada Used Piston Single Aircraft

Despite a slight M/M increase of 2.53% in this category in February, inventory levels are trending down and were 18.19% lower YOY.
Sandhills observed a marginal 0.86% M/M decrease in asking values following several months of decreases. Asking values were 0.57% lower YOY and are trending down.

Chart showing current inventory and asking value trends for used piston single aircraft.

U.S. & Canada Used Turboprop Aircraft

Inventory levels in this market rose 10.13% M/M and 9.43% YOY in February and are trending sideways.
Asking values decreased 0.87% M/M but were up 0.81% YOY. Asking values are now trending up.

Chart showing current inventory and asking value trends for used turboprop aircraft.

Global Used Robinson Piston Helicopters

Inventory levels of used Robinson piston helicopters dropped 1.69% M/M in February but were 13.73% higher YOY. Inventory levels are trending sideways.
Asking values showed a slight uptick of 0.02% M/M and a minor drop of 0.76% YOY. This market is holding a steady sideways trend.

Chart showing current inventory and asking value trends for used Robinson piston helicopters.

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About Sandhills Global

Sandhills Global is an information processing company headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. Our products and services gather, process, and distribute information in the form of trade publications, websites, and online services that connect buyers and sellers across the aviation, construction, agriculture, and commercial trucking industries. Our integrated, industry-specific approach to hosted technologies and services offers solutions that help businesses large and small operate efficiently and grow securely, cost-effectively, and successfully. Sandhills Global—we are the cloud.

About The Sandhills Equipment Value Index

The Sandhills Equipment Value Index (EVI) is a principal gauge of the estimated market values of used assets—both currently and over time—across the construction, agricultural, commercial trucking, and aviation industries represented by Sandhills Global marketplaces, including Controller.com, AuctionTime.com, TractorHouse.com, MachineryTrader.com, TruckPaper.com, and other industry-specific equipment platforms. Powered by FleetEvaluator and AircraftEvaluator, Sandhills’ proprietary asset valuation tools, Sandhills EVI provides useful insights into the ever-changing supply-and-demand conditions for each industry.