NAFA member Kyle O'Donnell, Elevex Capital's Aviation Sales Executive, shares his latest article.
Most corporate aircraft carry little or no debt — and that trapped equity is the least productive capital the company owns. A sale-leaseback puts it back to work.
Walk any ramp at a regional airport with a decent FBO and you can do the math from the fence line. The 2008 Challenger 300 that's been with the same operating company since delivery. The XLS that came off a fractional card and has been flying the same principal for nine years. The King Air 350 the medical group bought in cash because the CFO didn't want to deal with the bank. Every one of those aircraft is a capital position — and in most cases, it's the least productive capital the company owns.
Secured Research analysis of business aircraft ownership among middle-market operating companies found that 68% of corporate-operated and owner-flown aircraft carry either no debt at all or a balance below 30% of current retail value. Cross-reference that against fleet values and the numbers get large fast: on a typical light-to-midsize corporate aircraft, that's $2.5 million to $6 million in equity per tail. Aggregate it across the U.S. fleet of roughly 15,000 business jets and several thousand corporate turboprops, and Secured Research estimates north of $40 billion in unlevered aircraft equity sitting in American hangars — earning, by definition, nothing.
The most expensive capital in your client's company is usually parked in the hangar, and nobody's ever priced it.
This article was originally published by Elevex Capital on August 4, 2026.