Commercial air travel is seeing a drop in demand, as consumer confidence dips.
Even wealthy travelers are scaling back, according to Barclays’ latest survey of business jet brokers and financiers.
Customer interest in purchasing business jets has dropped by 49% since March, according to a survey conducted between April 9 and 15, with responses from 65 participants.
The Barclays Business Jet Indicator survey, released last week, evaluates market conditions using five metrics, including 12-month outlook and pricing.
From mid-March to mid-April, all but one—inventory levels—declined, causing the overall composite score to drop from 52 to 40.
The latest survey showed a 23% drop—the steepest decline Barclays has recorded since the COVID pandemic.
Barclays analyst David Strauss told CNBC he anticipated a dip in sentiment, but not of this magnitude.
According to Barclays, a composite score in the low 40s signals a slowdown in the business jet market.
The indicator closely tracks aircraft manufacturers’ book-to-bill ratio—a key gauge of financial health.
A score of 40 suggests that the dollar value of new orders is trailing about 10% behind the value of current deliveries, according to Strauss.
Survey respondents told Barclays that clients have paused purchases due to concerns about tariffs, which they fear could affect not just the aircraft market but also their core business operations.
Almost half (46%) of participants noted a decline in customer interest in buying business jets since March.
Forty-four per cent said interest remained unchanged, while just 10 per cent reported an improvement.
Asked about the impact of tariffs on new aircraft demand, 93% of respondents predicted a negative effect, with the majority expecting it to be significant. Only 7% felt there would be no impact.
