View Blog Posts

June 2020

Aircraft Inventory Levels Climb Month Over Month in Newest Sandhills Global Aviation Market Reports

LINCOLN, Nebraska — September 8, 2023

According to the newest Sandhills Global aviation industry reports covering pre-owned jets, piston single aircraft, turboprop aircraft, and Robinson piston helicopters in Sandhills marketplaces, aircraft inventory levels increased from July to August while asking values remain elevated.

“Inventory increases are not a new story at this point in 2023,” says Controller Department Manager Brant Washburn. “However, in the newest market reports it’s worth noting that month-over-month asking values ticked up for jets and piston singles. Also, month-over-month asking value decreases softened among turboprops and helicopters.”

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.

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

  • Inventory levels of used jets have posted several months of month-over-month increases and were up 1.27% M/M and 64.9% year-over-year in August.
  • Asking values rose 5.6% M/M and 6.46% YOY and are trending sideways. Asking values among the large- and super-midsize jet categories remained higher YOY in August reporting while the midsize and light-midsize categories were lower YOY.

Charts showing current trends in used jet aircraft.


U.S. and Canada Used Piston Single Aircraft

  • Pre-owned piston single aircraft inventory levels have been slowly gaining ground M/M, posting a 1.14% M/M increase in August. However, inventories fell 13.37% YOY.
  • Incremental asking value gains persist within this market. Asking values were up 0.96% M/M and 3.9% YOY.

Charts showing current trends in used piston single aircraft.


U.S. and Canada Used Turboprop Aircraft

  • Inventory levels of used turboprop aircraft rose 2.84% M/M after several months of increases and were up 12.89% YOY in August.
  • Asking values remain at a high point but are showing signs of easing. Asking values dropped 0.82% M/M after consecutive months of decreases and were roughly on par with last year, posting a 0.09% YOY decline.

Charts showing current trends in used turboprop aircraft.


Global Used Robinson Piston Helicopters

  • Inventory levels of used Robinson piston helicopters are marginally lower than last year. Inventories were up 3.57% M/M and down 4.4% YOY and are currently trending sideways.
  • Asking values were down 1.19% M/M after months of decreases but slightly higher YOY at 0.4%.

Charts showing current trends in used helicopters.


Obtain the Full Reports

For more information, or to receive detailed analysis from Sandhills Global, contact us at [email protected].

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.