Last week, Gulfstream unveiled their newest business jet- the G700 at the NBAA in Las Vegas. But the manufacturer has been slowly turning into a titan of the business aviation market.
But how has it got like this? First we need to provide a little bit of insight into how the manufacturer got started, and mainly the last 10 years, as well as the next.
How did Gulfstream start out?
The company that would later go on to become Gulfstream, started out as a division of Grumman Aerospace. It was started because Grumman, mainly a military aviation company, noticed a lack of aircraft manufacturers in the business aviation market.
Grumman started by making a small business jet to test whether the market was safe for them to enter. The aircraft that Grumman produced was a twin turboprop aircraft dubbed the Grumman Gulfstream I (G-I).
The G-I was extremely successful and lead to the development of a jet business aircraft. This aircraft was the first Gulfstream aircraft to be powered by jet engines, and was dubbed the Grumman Gulfstream G-II.
In 1966, the now-famed Savannah Georgia plant was opened, and the business aviation division was moved there.
In 1973, Grumman merged with American Aviation Corporation, and the CEO of AAC became the new CEO of the business aviation division. Due to the Grumman-AAC merger, Gulfstream was spun off as its own company.
The AAC CEO (Allen Paulson) made it a priority to get the G-III fully operational. The G-III became the first business jet to fly over both the North and South Poles.
In 1982, business was flying high (see what I did there?) so the G-IV was conceived and produced. In 1985, Chrysler Corp bought Gulfstream in an attempt to diversify their portfolio, for $637 million!
In 1989, Chrysler decided that Gulfstream wasn’t as profitable as they’d hoped, so they sold the manufacturer.
Allen Paulson decided to team up with a private equity firm Forstmann Little & Co to buy back the manufacturer.
In 1994, the G-V was conceived and began production. In 1998, Gulfstream purchased K-C Aviation for $250 million, in which purchasing a large player in the airline business across America.
In late 1999, General Dynamics purchased the manufacturer in an attempt to diversify as well.Â
In the past 20 years, most of the recognizable Gulfstream business jets have been produced. The manufacturer also dropped the previous use of Roman Numerals in favor of Arabic numbers.
The first of such aircraft were produced, the first aircraft was the G400.
In 2003, the G400 was replaced as the flagship aircraft by the G450. The G350 was released in 2004, however, it was considered a flop compared to the G400 and G450.
Since then, the G500, G550, G600 and G650 were produced, all of which were considerable successes at the time.
As we have said, the G700 was released last Monday at the NBAA in Las Vegas. The G700 is scheduled to have the first deliveries in 2022, with a potential G750 to be unveiled sometime before 2025.Â
But how will Gulfstream conquer the business aviation market in the next 10 years?
When you look at the past 10 years, the manufacturer has released the G600 and G650. These are two aircraft that are slated to be huge successes (the G650 has already been called a success, but the G600 has only just been delivered).
When looking at this, it’s safe to assume that the manufacturer will continue to produce more aircraft. The G700 and a G750 will be released and probably a G800 either released or under development.
Gulfstream continues to be customer-oriented, when consumers wanted more space, they provided it. Gulfstream also continues to try to make greater gains in the industry. All other private jet manufacturers have lost customers to Gulfstream.
Learjet was once king of private jets, and now, little by little, Gulfstream has stolen that title. Both Bombardier and Dassault have too found that their jets are often passed over in favor of the G-Series jets.
It’s thought that the bankruptcy of Hawker Beechcraft in 2012 was the direct fault of Gulfstream. Even Boeing and Airbus have seen that their BBJ and ACJ lines have been passed over for G-Series jets.
Boeing has lost BBJ customers over fears of safety relating to the 737 MAX. Meanwhile, Airbus has lost customers due to their lack of innovation when it comes to their jets.Â
When millionaires and billionaires shop around for a private jet, Gulfstream is in the forefront of their mind. Gulfstream has used its capital wisely to invest in advertising, that specifically targets millionaires and billionaires.
So when the time does come to get a private jet, the first people they go to are Gulfstream.
The number of jets sold will increase as the number of millionaires and billionaires increase! And there is no sign of the number of millionaires and billionaires slowing down anytime soon!
Personally, I believe that the next decade will be one of the best for the manufacturer. As the number of potential customers increases, as most will drawn to the G-Series of jets, so will their sales.
We’ve already seen that even though Bombardier jets get out faster, Gulfstream bides their time to get the best possible jet manufactured.Â
So even when customers are paying a higher price, they know that they are paying for the most quality. Billionaires normally prefer a bargain and quality over being the first to bring something to market.
This is all my own personal opinion, I will await to see whether I am proven right or wrong about the next decade. I am also curious to see what you think about this, do you agree? Do you disagree? If so, why do you disagree? I’d love to see it in the comments below!