In aircraft transactions, a completed repair often closes the technical chapter, but it does not always close the market chapter. Diminution in value is the difference in price between an otherwise comparable aircraft with a damage history and one without it, even when the damaged aircraft has been properly repaired and returned to service.

This is common, and it is not a simple percentage

Damage-related diminution comes up frequently, and it often surfaces soon after repairs are completed. What it is not is a standard “rule-of-thumb haircut.” The market is too nuanced. The same repair can price very differently depending on the aircraft type, the repair approach, the quality of documentation, and the market environment.

Business jets: where diminution is usually most material

Diminution is common and often large for damaged business jets. The business aviation market places a premium on clean history, and buyers can be sensitive to stigma and future marketability concerns.

One important nuance is newness. All else equal, newer business jets often experience greater diminution than older ones. The reasoning is straightforward: buyers paying “near-new” prices typically expect “near-new” history. When that expectation is broken, the discount demanded by the market can be larger.

Commercial aircraft: often little to no diminution

For commercial transport aircraft, the market often behaves differently. Airline aircraft are typically viewed as income-producing tools, and repairs over a long service life can be routine. As a result, properly repaired damage on many commercial aircraft may not lead to meaningful diminution in value, especially when the repair is well-executed and supported by strong documentation.

Helicopters: sometimes no diminution, and occasionally an increase

Helicopters are often even more pragmatic. In many cases, helicopters do not experience a diminution of value after a proper repair. In fact, if the repair includes replacing time-sensitive or life-limited components with new parts, the aircraft may even see an increase in value because component status improves.

What actually drives diminution when it does occur

When diminution is present, it is typically driven by a few practical factors:

• How invasive the damage and repair were. The more extensive the damage and the more structural the repair, the more likely the market is to discount the aircraft.
• Repair method and quality. Buyers care who performed the work, whether the repair aligns with manufacturer standards, and whether the result appears “factory-correct.”
• Documentation and visibility. Clear, complete records usually reduce uncertainty. Missing or vague records tend to amplify buyer concerns.
• How recent the damage is. Time matters. If an aircraft was damaged several years ago and has flown thousands of hours since then without issues, the market often treats the event as “seasoned,” and the diminution is usually smaller than it would be for a newly damaged aircraft.
• Market conditions. In a strong market, discounts can narrow because buyers have fewer alternatives. In a soft market, the same history becomes a bigger negotiating point.

The key distinction

Diminution is about market perception, not airworthiness. A properly repaired aircraft can be completely airworthy yet still trade at a discount because buyers factor in price uncertainty, stigma, and future liquidity risk.

InfoJets note: If you are dealing with a damage event, the right question is not only “Is it repaired?” It is “How will the market price the history for this aircraft type, in this market, with this repair and documentation?”

A lot of industry conversation assumes that environmental regulation and societal pressure automatically translate into rapid operating improvements. The data tell a more nuanced story.

Across 20 U.S. carriers over 2005–2025, fuel consumption intensity improves only modestly and unevenly, while real maintenance expense shows a pronounced upward drift.

Why this matters

Fuel is the headline issue in sustainability discussions, but maintenance is quietly becoming a bigger part of the operating-cost reality. When fuel intensity barely improves while maintenance cost intensity rises, the economics of keeping aircraft in service shift, and so do financing and fleet decisions.

The cleanest way to measure it: per ASM, not per RPM

A key point is measurement. Per-RPM metrics can look worse during downturns simply because load factor falls, even if the airline did not become less efficient. ASM-based intensity measures avoid that mechanical distortion by relating fuel and maintenance to capacity deployed, not demand realized.

Business model differences are not subtle

When you compare fuel and maintenance intensity per ASM across carrier types, the pattern is consistent:

• ULCCs are the lowest intensity operators on both fuel and maintenance per ASM.
• LCCs fall between ULCCs and full-service carriers.
• Regional airlines have the highest intensities, consistent with shorter stage lengths and smaller aircraft gauge.

Regional and short-haul operators face the steepest squeeze

The most important operational takeaway is that regional airlines show little to no improvement in fuel intensity per ASM, alongside a pronounced increase in maintenance intensity.

In plain terms, short-haul flying is cycle-heavy, smaller-gauge aircraft are disadvantaged on a per-capacity basis, and the maintenance burden rises quickly as fleets accumulate cycles.

The market implication

If the industry’s fuel intensity improvements are gradual, but real maintenance costs keep climbing, stakeholders need to pay more attention to the maintenance side of the equation. For lessors, lenders, and investors, maintenance forecasting, reserve adequacy, and technical risk increasingly matter as much as the “green” narrative.

InfoJets note: We help clients connect aircraft specifics, maintenance reality, and market conditions to support valuation, financing, and transaction decisions. If you are evaluating an aircraft, lease, or portfolio, we are happy to help you frame the drivers that matter.

Airline networks change slowly in good times, and very quickly in bad times. One of the clearest patterns in schedule data is how airlines rebalance capacity when uncertainty hits.

Using Sabre Market Intelligence schedule data, the story is consistent across major disruptions. After 9/11, SARS, the Global Financial Crisis, and COVID, airlines reduce WB capacity more aggressively than NB capacity. As a result, the share of ASM flown by NB aircraft rises during downturns, while WB share falls.

This is not just a temporary shock response. Since the Global Financial Crisis period, NB capacity has exceeded WB capacity on an ASM basis, and that structural shift has persisted.

Source: Sabre Market Intelligence (published schedules).

Why wide-bodies are cut first

Wide-body flying concentrates exposure. Long-haul networks depend on cross-border access, stable demand, and a healthy premium segment. When conditions deteriorate, those assumptions weaken at the same time.

Wide-bodies also have fewer redeployment options. A narrow-body can be moved across domestic and regional markets, adjusted through frequency, and matched to demand with relatively fine control. A wide-body is typically tied to fewer routes, longer cycles, and more binary scheduling decisions.

So when airlines need to reduce risk fast, WB capacity is often the first and deepest cut. The charts show this clearly, with the most dramatic shift occurring during COVID, when WB share drops sharply while NB share rises.

The post-2007 narrow-body era

The charts also highlight a longer-run trend. After the 2007–2009 period, NB capacity becomes the larger share of total ASM and remains that way. Even as international markets recovered after COVID, the mix did not return to the earlier wide-body heavy structure.

This is consistent with two broader forces.

First, airlines have leaned into network flexibility and frequency-based economics that are easier to execute with narrow-bodies.

Second, larger and longer-range narrow-bodies have expanded the mission set that can be served without wide-body lift on many routes.

Upgauging is happening almost everywhere

The capacity mix is only half the story. The second chart shows that aircraft gauge has increased meaningfully across categories.

Narrow-body aircraft are getting larger. Average NB seats rise from about 140 in 2000 to about 172 in 2025. This is a steady, structural upgauge.

Regional aircraft are getting larger too. Average RJ seats increase from about 50 to about 76 over the same period, reflecting the long retreat from 50-seat economics and the migration toward larger regional lift.

Wide-body gauge is more cyclical. Average WB seats rise from about 220 in 2000 to about 286 in 2014–2019, then decline to about 240 in 2025. The pre-2019 period reflects larger long-haul gauge and dense trunk international deployment. The post-2019 decline suggests a shift toward more flexible wide-body deployment and a different long-haul demand environment.

Across the whole industry, the trend is up. Average seats per departure increase from about 107 in 2000 to about 161 in 2025.

What this implies for fleets and markets

A practical way to read these patterns is to focus on flexibility and risk.

In downturns, airlines protect capacity that can be adjusted incrementally and redeployed broadly. That tends to favor NB flying.

In expansions, airlines add wide-body capacity, but the long-run mix still appears more narrow-body oriented than it was two decades ago.

At the same time, upgauging changes what “core narrow-body” means. The average narrow-body today is materially larger than it was in 2000, and the average regional aircraft is also larger. This affects everything from airport gate planning to route economics to the definition of a “right-sized” fleet.

A simple way to think about it

If you remember one takeaway, it is this. Wide-body capacity behaves like the swing component of the network during crises, while narrow-body capacity behaves like the resilient core. Over time, the resilient core has also been getting bigger.

InfoJets note: At InfoJets, we use schedule data and market evidence to connect network shifts, aircraft gauge, and cycle dynamics to valuation, financing, and transaction decisions. If you are evaluating fleet exposure, lease terms, or residual risk across aircraft categories, we are happy to help you frame what the market is signaling.

The commercial aircraft market is finally moving in the right direction on supply. Deliveries rose meaningfully in 2025, but the industry is still not producing enough aircraft to clear the backlog quickly. The result is a market where new-generation types remain expensive and highly desired, while older-generation aircraft are starting to look more like a normal cycle, flat to slightly softer.

Supply chain issues are still present, but the trend is improving

Global deliveries of commercial passenger aircraft rose to 1,428 in 2025, up about 18% year over year, the highest since before the pandemic. At the same time, 2025 deliveries were still about 14% below the 2018 record high, and both major OEMs continue to face supply chain challenges.

So yes, the bottlenecks are easing, but the system is not back to a normal production rhythm.

Boeing and Airbus in 2025, a quick orders and deliveries snapshot

Deliveries are the cleanest scoreboard. Airbus delivered 793 aircraft in 2025, while Boeing delivered 600. Airbus’s 2025 deliveries are roughly back to 2018 levels, while Boeing’s are closer to 2012 levels, which is another way of saying Boeing has more ground to make up.

On the demand side, the backlog is still the defining feature of the market. The global passenger aircraft order backlog reached 17,175 at year-end 2025, equating to about 12 years of production at current delivery rates. Supply is improving, but the shortage is still embedded in the backlog.

What the value data is saying, the new generation stays high, the older generation flattens

When availability is constrained, pricing separates quickly by efficiency and long-run relevance.

The new generation narrowbodies are still being priced like scarce assets. The ~5-year-old B737 MAX 8 and A320neo are up about 5% in CMV from January 2025 to January 2026. That is not a market searching for a bottom. That is a market paying up for efficiency and availability now. Older B737-800 and A320ceo are essentially flat to slightly down from January 2025 to January 2026. That is still consistent with high absolute values, but it is also a reminder that even in a shortage environment, pricing can normalize at the margin when a segment gets more competitive.

Used widebody values are staying flat as well.

It is what you often see when older technology starts to lose the benefit of the doubt. Values do not have to drop sharply to signal a change. Flat is a signal too, especially when the rest of the market is still tight.

Why this divergence makes sense

If you connect the OEM backdrop to the value behavior, the logic is straightforward.

Backlog and production constraints keep the overall fleet short, supporting values across the board. Amid that shortage, demand focuses on the types that deliver the best operating economics and the lowest long-run risk, which is why new-generation narrowbodies continue to command premium pricing. Older generation aircraft can still be very liquid, especially in the right configurations. But the market is increasingly selective, and that selectivity shows up first as flat pricing and small declines, not necessarily a dramatic reprice.

A simple way to think about it

In a supply-constrained cycle, the market rations scarce lift by paying up for efficiency. New-generation aircraft remain expensive because they solve more problems for more operators. Older-generation aircraft do not collapse; they simply stop levitating.

InfoJets note: If you are evaluating fleet exposure, sale-leaseback terms, or residual risk across new- and older-generation types, we can help you connect the OEM supply picture, current lease economics, and transaction comparables into a clear valuation view.

People often talk about aircraft value as if it is a single, clean number. In reality, it is a moving target that reflects how the market sees an aircraft today, how it expects that aircraft to perform tomorrow, and how confident buyers feel about the information they have in hand.

The good news is that most value drivers fall into four buckets. Once you learn to think this way, aircraft pricing starts to make a lot more sense.

1) The manufacturer backdrop

Before you even get to a specific tail number, the manufacturer matters. OEM pricing can shape the market’s expectations, especially for newer aircraft. Production cycles matter too. When delivery slots are tight and availability is limited, values tend to be supported. When production ramps up and options become easier to source, values can soften.

Support is part of this story as well. A platform with strong parts availability, a deep service network, and a stable long-term outlook typically carries less perceived risk, and that often shows up in value.

2) The aircraft itself

This is where “same model” becomes “different asset.” Age matters, but it is only the starting point. Specifications matter because they influence who wants the aircraft and what it costs to operate. Operating history matters because records’ quality and maintenance discipline shape market confidence.

Technology also plays a role. New-technology aircraft are often valued differently because buyers expect stronger operating economics and longer-term demand. In simple terms, value tends to follow the aircraft that operators feel good about flying for years, not just months.

3) The market, right now

Market conditions often explain value changes that feel sudden. Supply and demand are not abstract concepts. They show up in production rates, backlog, and how many aircraft are actually available today.

Liquidity is one of the most important ideas in aircraft value. A liquid aircraft is one that can attract credible buyers quickly, even if the market softens. When the buyer pool is deep, values are more resilient. When the buyer pool is thin, values can move sharply, even if the aircraft itself is solid.

Financing conditions matter here too. Interest rates, credit availability, and investor risk appetite influence required returns, and required returns influence pricing. Aircraft value lives in the intersection of aviation fundamentals and capital markets.

4) Regulations

Regulation shapes demand by changing what is operationally easy, economically attractive, or even permitted. Noise rules can limit certain aircraft in certain markets. Emissions pressure tends to reward efficiency over time. Some operators and jurisdictions also have age-related preferences or restrictions that reduce the buyer universe for older assets.

When regulation reduces the buyer pool, liquidity usually declines. When liquidity declines, values can come under pressure.

Why aircraft values still involve judgment

A final reality check: some variables are observable, and some are not. We can see type, age, engine model, and many specifications. Other drivers are harder to verify consistently, such as maintenance reality, records completeness, transaction terms, and how motivated each party is.

Add the fact that many transactions are private and often under NDAs, and you get the core reason aircraft values are not perfectly objective. The goal of a good appraisal or valuation is not to guess. It is to use the best available evidence, interpret it consistently, and explain the logic clearly.

A simple way to think about it

If you remember only one thing, remember this: aircraft value is shaped by the platform, the specific aircraft, the market cycle, and the rules it operates under. When those factors align, values hold. When they do not, pricing can change quickly.

InfoJets note: At InfoJets, we help clients connect aircraft specifics, maintenance reality, lease economics, and market conditions to support financing, transactions, and valuation decisions. If you would like a second set of eyes on an aircraft, a lease, or a portfolio, feel free to reach out.