financing

NAFA member Preston Holland, President and Founder of Prestige Aircraft Finance, shares his latest article on using a broker or direct lender.

Go directly to a lender when you already have a strong private-bank relationship and a simple deal, such as a newer aircraft, a clean credit file and 20 percent or more down. Use an aircraft finance broker when you want several lenders competing, the aircraft is older or unusual, the ownership structure is complex, or a lender has already said no.

Most buyers start the financing conversation with the bank they already know. Sometimes that is exactly the right call. Other times, the buyer spends weeks with a lender that was never going to approve a 20-year-old turboprop, and the closing date slips. The right aircraft financing for your deal depends less on any single lender and more on whether the lender’s credit box matches your aircraft, your profile and your timeline.

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This article was originally published by Prestige Aircraft Finance on October 16, 2026.

NAFA member Preston Holland, President and Founder of Prestige Aircraft Finance, shares his latest article on lease versus loan.

Key takeaways

There are three main ways to finance an aircraft: a term loan, a finance lease (often still called a capital lease), and an operating lease. Each structures ownership, cash flow, and tax treatment differently. Term loans are best for long-term owners who want equity. Finance/capital leases suit businesses that want depreciation benefits without a large down payment. Operating leases can provide a flexible upgrade path while the lessor retains residual and exit responsibility. The right choice depends on your full picture, not any single checkbox.

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This article was originally published by Prestige Aircraft Finance on October 1, 2026.

NAFA member Brian Finley, Aircraft Lender at Scope Aircraft Finance, shares his latest article in Issue #25 of the October 2026 Edition of The Plane Truth.

I climbed a mountain in the Smokies last month, reaching the peak at 6,594 feet. By the time this article is published, I’ll hopefully have completed hiking my first two 14ers in the Rocky Mountains (mountain tops above 14,000’). So is my climb in the Rockies that much more difficult, or does the challenge depend on distance and the field elevation at the start of the climb? ‍

Many people are contemplating how higher interest rates today (compared to the past decade but much closer to long-term historical averages) will affect business and whether customers choose to finance. Higher rates will definitely require a harder look at how one deploys their cash. Just as a mountain's summit elevation doesn't tell the whole story, the stated interest rate alone shouldn't determine whether financing makes sense. 

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T‍his article was originally published on October 19, 2026 in Issue #25 of the October 2026 Edition of The Plane Truth.

NAFA member David Fisher, President of Western Aviation, shares his first article in a new series of monthly articles about why fair market, orderly liquidation and forced liquidation values each answer a different credit question, and what a lender-grade appraisal should show for each.

Every aircraft loan rests on a number. The question is whether that number describes the aircraft actually sitting in the hangar, or an average aircraft of the same make, model and year.

Published value guides and asking prices are useful starting points. They are not collateral analysis. Two business jets with the same model year and similar total time can be hundreds of thousands of dollars apart once engine status, inspection timing, avionics, damage history and records quality are accounted for. A lender who advances against the average is lending against an aircraft it does not own a lien on.

Three values, three questions

A lender-grade appraisal should state more than one value, because a lender faces more than one scenario.

• Fair Market Value (FMV) is the most probable price between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither under compulsion, with adequate marketing time. It answers: what is this asset worth in a normal sale?
• Orderly Liquidation Value (OLV) assumes a seller under some pressure but with a reasonable exposure period, typically 90 to 180 days with a competent broker. It answers: what do we recover if we have to sell?
• Forced Liquidation Value (FLV) assumes an auction-style sale under severe time constraint, often within 30 to 45 days. It is the floor.

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This article was originally published by Western Aviation on October 16, 2026. 

Ken Greene, Attorney at the Law Office of Kenneth Charles Green in South California, shares his latest article in Monitor Daily. 

California’s new licensing law gives commercial finance companies until 2028 to prepare, but the real risk is unenforceable contracts, not just missing licenses.

On Sept. 30, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2116 into law, in essentially the form discussed in my two previous articles, California AB 2116: No CFL License, No Collection? and California AB 2116: Can a Bank Buy an Unenforceable Loan? California will now require even more companies that provide or broker commercial financing to obtain licenses from the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation.

The good news is that the industry has time to prepare. The bad news is that it may need every minute.

AB 2116 covers commercial financing offers of $500,000 or less made to a qualifying small business or small-business owner. “Small business” generally means a for-profit business with annual gross receipts of no more than $16 million, subject to future adjustments.

Covered transactions include commercial loans, factoring, accounts-receivable purchases, sales-based financing, asset-based lending, open-end credit and “lease financing.” The latter generally refers to leases that create security interests under the Commercial Code. A conventional true lease should not become regulated merely because someone calls it equipment financing. As always, however, labels are no substitute for substance.

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This article was originally published by Monitor Daily on September 30, 2026.

NAFA member Kyle O'Donnell, Aviation Sales Executive at Elevex Capital, shares his latest article about why older business aircraft can be good assets despite banks’ age restrictions on financing them.

For owners and for the professionals who sell to them, the operating rule is simple: if the decline was really about the calendar, the problem was never the aircraft. It was the wrong lender.

The average business jet in the U.S. fleet is roughly 18 years old — JETNET and Airbus Corporate Jets have both put the figure in that band. Sit with that number for a second, because it is the single most consequential fact in business aviation finance, and it's poised to become more consequential.

Almost all lenders prefer newer aircraft. Most bank aviation programs cap airframe age at 15 years at loan maturity. Plenty prefer 10 at funding. That leaves a huge gap in the market: Secured Research analysis of the U.S. registry puts more than 60% of active business jets — call it 9,000-plus tails — outside the standard bank credit box on age alone. Before anyone pulls credit, before anyone reads a logbook.

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This article was originally published by Elevex Capital on September 28, 2026. 

NAFA member Mike Smith, President of Scope Aircraft Finance, shares his latest article in The Plane Truth.

As was widely anticipated, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) increased its target rate by 0.25% at the conclusion of its meeting on September 16. This was the first rate increase in over 3 years, and in reading the tea leaves after the meeting, we should expect another 0.25% increase by the FOMC before the end of the year.​

This is a material change in posture compared to where we started in 2026. At the start of the year, the market expected rate cuts from the FOMC. What happened? Ultimately, it goes back to the Federal Reserve’s “dual mandate” of maximum employment and price stability (defined as a 2% inflation rate). And as we all know, inflation continues to run a little hot.

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This article was originally published in Issue #24 of The Plane Truth on September 24, 2026.

Industry experts discuss with Felipe Reisch how today’s aircraft financing solutions can support a healthier cash flow, greater financial flexibility, and a more strategic long-term aircraft ownership.

Purchasing a business aircraft is often viewed as a significant capital investment, but the way that investment is financed can have implications extending well beyond the acquisition itself. After all, for many buyers, aircraft financing is not just about reducing the upfront cost.

When structured appropriately, aircraft finance can become an important tool for preserving liquidity, supporting business growth, and maintaining greater control over cash flow throughout the ownership cycle.

Don’t Treat Aircraft Finance as a ‘One-Size-Fits-All’ 

There is no universal financing structure that works for every aircraft acquisition. The right solution depends on the buyer’s financial position, operational requirements, ownership objectives and long-term business strategy.

In fact, many aircraft buyers can afford to purchase their plane in cash, but that doesn’t automatically mean cash is the most efficient use of capital, notes Alex Kowtun, Co-Founder at Palm Beach Jets. “Financing can allow the buyer to preserve working capital for operating needs, acquisitions, inventory, hiring, growth initiatives, or reserves for the aircraft itself.”

Hannah Davis, Vice President of Sales, Mid-Atlantic/Southeast US at Global Jet, believes that financing changes the game by transforming a massive, lump-sum capital expenditure into a predictable, structured operating expense.

“By preserving that liquidity, companies maintain the financial flexibility to respond to market opportunities or navigate economic downturns, all while securing the critical business tool they need to grow.”

She argues that buying a business jet outright ties up a large amount of liquid capital in a highly specialized, depreciating asset. “For high-growth companies or corporate flight departments, that capital almost always generates a higher return when it is reinvested back into core business operations, R&D, or strategic acquisitions.”

Steve Olson, Director of Airplane Finance at Commerce Bank, agrees, noting that while some owners choose to use cash or existing credit facilities to acquire an aircraft, financing secured by the aircraft itself can preserve liquidity and maintain borrowing capacity for other strategic investments, acquisitions, or operational needs.

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This article was originally published by AvBuyer on September 7, 2026.

NAFA member Global Jet Capital shares their latest article about business aircraft finance trends.

Looking at where business aviation is right now can help aircraft owners and financial leaders make strategic decisions about the future. Private aviation entered the second half of 2026 on solid footing with business jet departures, manufacturer backlogs and valuations all up from this time a year ago. At the same time, pre-owned availability declined as fewer younger aircraft came to market.

For financial decision-makers, these conditions reinforce an important point: aircraft finance trends are increasingly about more than simply securing the lowest-cost capital. Financing is becoming a strategic tool for managing liquidity, flexibility, risk and the role an aircraft plays within a broader capital strategy.

Aircraft Refinancing Unlocks Flexibility

For owners who already have aircraft financing in place, today's market can also be a reason to revisit that structure. An existing aircraft loan doesn’t have to be viewed as permanent. A refinancing review can uncover opportunities to improve liquidity, restructure debt or better align the financing with where the business is today.

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This article was originally published by Global Jet Capital on September 14, 2026.

NAFA member Preston Holland, President and Founder of Prestige Aircraft Financing, shares his latest article about aircraft financing.

The business jet buyer is acutely aware of the interest rate environment.  Whether the core business is commercial real estate, construction, or goods and services, the cost of borrowing is top of mind for growing a company.  That awareness is especially sharp right now given the volatility of the past few quarters.  My goal here is to lay out the core fundamentals of borrowing for corporate aircraft so you have a framework for your decision making.

How Business Jet Rates are Priced

There are a few benchmarks lenders use to determine the pricing of debt on aircraft.  The most popular today is SOFR, which tends to be the most reactive to market movements.  For instance, I had a deal recently that reduced by 20 bps between proposal and closing in the buyer's favor in a matter of thirty days.  To achieve a fixed rate on a SOFR based loan, lenders wil typically use some sort of swap contract index, such as the 5-year SOFR Swap Rate or the ICE Swap Rate.

Another popular benchmark is the 5-year Treasury yield.  The reason for this is that most aircraft transactions are structured as commercial loans with a term of 5 years, with a balloon payment due after the 60th month.  This typically aligns well with the bank's cost of funds regardless of how they actually fund their loans.

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This article was originally published in OGARAJETS' The Jet Whisperer, Summer 2026, page 14-15.

NAFA member Kyle O'Donnell, Aviation Sales Executive with Elevex Capital, shares his latest article on aircraft financing.

“My client has financing handled” is a comfortable premise, not a fact — and the data says it's the most expensive assumption in the transaction.

Every aircraft sales professional has heard the sentence, usually within the first fifteen minutes of the engagement, always delivered with total confidence: “Financing's handled, my bank's got it.” And every professional who's been at this longer than one market cycle knows what that sentence looks like on day 45: an underwriting file stalled in a committee that meets biweekly, a third request for entity documents nobody mentioned needing on day one, a listing broker starting to ask politely, then less politely, whether this buyer can actually perform. Meanwhile the pre-buy slot you fought to get at the service center is burning, the contingency window in the LOI is closing, and the backup offer that was theoretical in week two is suddenly returning the listing broker's calls.

The data says this isn't anecdote. Secured Research analysis of business aviation transactions found financing to be the leading cause of missed closing dates, implicated in 44% of delayed transactions — more than pre-purchase inspection findings and title issues combined. And in the majority of those files, the buyer entered the deal genuinely believing financing was already arranged.

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This article was originally published by Elevex Capital on August 21, 2026.

NAFA member Mike Smith, President of Scope Aircraft Finance, shares his latest article in The Plane Truth.

One of my favorite movies of all time is Anchorman. In one of the scenes of that movie, the narrator says, “Bob Dylan once wrote, ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’.” Ron Burgundy had never heard that song, so when he fell, he fell hard.”‍

That scene comes to mind regularly these days when I think about where interest rates have gone this year, and where things may go in the future. In fact, there are so many unique dynamics at play at once right now. We’ll chew through them periodically through our “The Plane Truth” articles the rest of the year.‍

As you know, a new chair of the Federal Reserve took the helm in June. Kevin Warsh is now Fed chair, and in the role he’s prioritizing providing less forward guidance than in recent history. For our conversation, let’s look at the “dot plot”. What is the dot plot? Periodically, members of the Fed forecast where they think rates will be headed. All their projections are outlined on a single chart represented by dots …hence the name “dot plot”.

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This article was originally published in The Plane Truth on August 27, 2026.

NAFA member Mike Smith, President of Scope Aircraft Finance, shares his latest article in The Plane Truth.

On my way home from EAA Oshkosh last week, I was thinking about how quickly the year is moving. I usually look at that summer event as the kick-off to the second half of the year…as hard as that is to believe.‍

As we reach the latter stages of summer, I’m reminded of something I’ve discussed previously…this concept of certainty. Over my 15 years of working in aircraft lending, I’ve been reminded that business owners (and, as a result, aircraft buyers) ultimately like to make decisions when they feel like they have clarity of what’s going to happen, which creates an environment of certainty. ‍

Two recent examples prove this point. Back in 2020, the Covid pandemic caused a great pause in aircraft purchasing, for good reason. Once we had an idea of the virus’s actual impacts, purchasing continued. Last year, the back-and-forth on tariffs created tremendous uncertainty and led to another pause in purchasing. Once we had a clearer idea of the tariff impacts, purchasing resumed.

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This article was originally published on July 30, 2026 in Issue 22 of The Plane Truth.

NAFA member Tripp Thurston, Chief Operating Officer at FLYING Finance, shares his latest article.

The business jet is the tool. The second hangar is the reason they learned to fly in the first place.

The longer I am in aviation, the more I find two hangar pilots. These are the ones that have the business jet on limited charter with the management company, and a second hangar at the local airstrip. It is the second hangar that catches my attention, because it is the aircraft in that second hangar that sparks the eye twinkling smiles and the rascally grins. The second hangar is not always as brightly lit or even as big, but it is where you find the aircraft the owner actually loves to fly: a Carbon Cub FX-3 and an RV-14 he built during the pandemic.

This is not an unusual story anymore. It is a generation.

The Aircraft You Show Off and the One You Actually Fly

There is a class of pilot — successful, accomplished, the kind whose company uses the jet for legitimate business travel — who keeps a second aircraft that no flight department will touch, that no scheduler will log, that exists entirely outside the operational framework of the primary aviation asset. It is the aircraft they fly when the office is not calling.

Sometimes it is a Carbon Cub fully optioned north of $400,000. Sometimes it is an SR22 left over from before the company grew to the point where a Pilatus, EPIC or Citation made more sense. Sometimes it is a Van’s RV-14 that lives in a T-hangar at a grass strip forty minutes from home. Sometimes it is a restored Bonanza that belonged to a grandfather.

What unifies them is not the aircraft type. It is what the aircraft represents. The jet is the tool. The other one is the reason they learned to fly in the first place. Welcome back to FLYING.

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This article was originally published by FLYING Finance in 2026.

NAFA member Commerce Bank shares their latest article on private jet financing.

For business owners and executives with a heavy travel schedule, switching from flying commercial to private can be transformational.

“Flying private is basically like a time machine, affording travelers the ability to visit multiple business locations and still return home to their family at the end of the day,” said Steve Olson, Commerce Bank manager, equipment finance, aircraft sales. “I hear that all the time.”

That sentiment has been driving activity in business aviation since the pandemic, according to Darren Lemkau, president and CEO of Commerce Bank ─ Colorado. He is seeing a high velocity in aircraft lending, with a mix of first-time customers, refinancing and buyers trading up. Even a tighter supply for new aircraft and parts for repairs hasn’t slowed things down.

“The thing about the aircraft business is it doesn’t start and stop on a dime,” Lemkau said. “Aircraft take a long time to produce.”

Couple the persistent demand with a convergence of market conditions, and it makes 2026 a unique moment for businesses looking into aircraft ownership options.

Navigating the interest rate landscape

The interest rate environment is playing a key factor in today’s aircraft financing landscape. Many buyers who financed aircraft in the past several years used short-term, variable-rate loans, according to both Olson and Lemkau, and with rates fluctuating, the refinancing question is on the mind of many owners.

“Five years ago, rates were significantly lower than they were two years ago,” Olson said. As a result, borrowers with favorable interest rates are holding onto their existing loans as long as they can, while those with higher rates are exploring their options.

“It’s hard to foresee how that’s going to play out in the future,” he added.

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This article was originally published by Commerce Bank on July 2, 2026.