Amy Wilder is a private pilot with more than two decades of experience as a writer and editor in a career spanning journalism, marketing, and communications. 
She has worked in aviation journalism since 2023, combining a lifelong passion for flight and a love of the aviation community with a penchant for storytelling. As a licensed pilot, she brings firsthand insight to the stories she covers, lending an authentic, on-the-ground perspective to industry coverage.
She holds a Master of Arts in Eastern Classics and a Master of Arts in Liberal Arts, both from St. John&#039;s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, along with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Culture.

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Amy Wilder

Record global initial public offering (IPO) activity and a fast-growing population of billionaires and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) individuals are sustaining demand for business jets, according to a Jefferies <a href="https://javatar.bluematrix.com/links2/html/e5668ddb-946f-4202-8d0b-f8bbc33080db">equity research report</a> published yesterday.
Equity analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu and associate Ceara Perry noted that 2026 is on track to be a record year for IPOs. Year-to-date IPO proceeds stand at $125.6 billion, nearly three times the full-year 2025 total of $45.3 billion, while IPO count is tracking at 75% of last year’s tally. IPO activity and business jet deliveries have been 70% correlated over the past decade, excluding the 2020 to 2021 outlier period, the firm found.
Wealth creation is considered a leading indicator of jet demand. The global ultra-high-net-worth population—individuals worth more than $30 million—and the billionaire population have each grown at a 5% compound annual rate since 2019, reaching 713,626 UHNW individuals and 3,110 billionaires. Jefferies calculated an 83% correlation between that population growth and business jet departures, which have sustained growth of more than 30% above 2019 levels.
The firm estimated that 30% to 40% of business jet deliveries go to corporate customers, 20% to 30% to high-net-worth individuals, roughly 10% to fractional operators, and the remaining 30% to charter operators and other buyers.
Business aviation flight hours increased 4% year-to-date and 2% in May, compared with IATA revenue passenger kilometers up 1% year-to-date and down 3% in April. The business jet market has shown a 73% correlation to oil prices since 2019. Although fuel comprises 35% of business jet operating costs, Jefferies said demand stands to benefit more from oil-driven wealth creation in exporting regions than it would suffer from price-sensitivity effects.
Among aerospace suppliers Jefferies tracks, VSE Corp. carries the highest business jet revenue exposure at 50%, a figure boosted by its recent acquisition of PAG, which itself carries 58% exposure. Textron followed at 40%, General Dynamics at 25%, and Loar Holdings and Honeywell Aerospace each at 20%.
Jefferies hosted its seventh annual Business Jet Summit on June 25, with participants including Cirrus Aircraft, Embraer, GAMA, Honda Aircraft, and Wheels Up.

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Jefferies Links Record IPO Activity, UHNW Growth to Increased Bizjet Demand

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Jefferies report ties bizjet demand to wealth creation, noting that UHNW population and billionaire ranks have grown 5% annually since 2019.

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