Freestream Aircraft

Wednesday, 5 August 2026

Bombardier retains bizjet lead in 2026 AIN support survey

Aviation International News has published its 2026 aircraft Product Support Survey. Bombardier again ranks first among business jet manufacturers. AIN's headline reads 'Bombardier returns as bizjet leader while supply chain challenges industry'. Bombardier also led AIN's 2024 and 2025 surveys.

The survey polls qualified operators on parts availability and warranty response. It also covers service-centre quality, factory support, tech-rep responsiveness and cost per flight hour. Six business jet airframers appear in the aircraft table. Turboprop and light-jet OEMs are surveyed separately. AIN typically publishes avionics, cabin management and connectivity results later in the month, followed by the Above and Beyond honours in September.

Every major airframer surveyed reported supply-chain strain in 2026. Textron Aviation traced its Q2 Citation delivery slip to supplier delays on engines, spars and hydraulics, and does not expect broader delivery gains until mid-to-late 2027. Dassault Aviation attributed its 2026 Falcon production trajectory to aerostructure shortages in its first-half results. Both are recurring themes in this year's survey narrative.

For owners, the survey is a leading indicator of downtime. Bombardier's Chicago and Frankfurt parts hubs marked 20 years of continuous operation in 2025, and the manufacturer has held first place in the AIN aircraft category since 2024. Owners planning Q4 maintenance visits should press their factory contact for slot confirmation before winter demand pushes backlogs harder into 2027.

The survey's avionics, cabin management and connectivity chapters landing later in August will fill out the wider aftercare picture. Turboprop rankings, released in parallel, will show whether Pilatus and Daher retain their traditional lead in that column of the market. The Above and Beyond honours in September will name the specific service centres, tech reps and dispatch teams that respondents singled out for individual recognition.

Source: Aviation International News, 3 August 2026; Textron Aviation Q2 2026 SEC Form 8-K; Dassault Aviation 2026 first-half results.


Also today

HondaJet Elite II wins Brazilian type validation with first delivery

Honda Aircraft has delivered the first HondaJet Elite II to a Brazilian customer. The very-light jet passed type validation from Brazil's Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC) ahead of the handover. Honda Aircraft confirmed the milestone at LABACE 2026 on 4 August 2026. Lider Aviação, the exclusive HondaJet distributor in the country, took the handover on the customer's behalf and has now supported nine HondaJet deliveries in Brazil since 2017. The Elite II holds a maximum cruise of 422 knots true, a maximum NBAA IFR range of 1,547 nautical miles, GE Honda HF120 turbofans and Garmin Autoland as the first application on a light jet.

Source: Honda Aircraft Company, 4 August 2026; Aviation International News, 4 August 2026; Business Jet Interiors International.

FAA proposes Global 7500 SPDA inspection, comments close 31 August

The FAA has proposed a new airworthiness directive for the Bombardier Global 7500. Comment period closes 31 August 2026. The proposal follows a Bombardier manufacturing quality-escape notice that a red protective film may not have been removed from the bottom face of secondary power distribution assembly units No. 1 and No. 2 on certain airframes. If left in place, the film blocks the cooling-mesh holes and could push the SPDA above normal operating temperature, leading in the FAA's assessment to failure and loss of any system fed by those units. The proposal (docket FAA-2026-7221) references Transport Canada CF-2025-40 as the state-of-design directive.

Source: Federal Register document 2026-14300, 16 July 2026; Transport Canada CF-2025-40.