Your business aviation hot takes, served fresh.

July 1st, 2026 | Season 3 Episode 26 Companion

Good morning and welcome back to the VIP Seat. This week we are covering the FAA opening the door to supersonic flight over land, a nudist beach squaring off against an airport expansion in Toronto, China grounding general aviation after a fatal crash in Beijing, the billionaire summer camp descending on Sun Valley, the NASA administrator flying his F-5 over the FAA's objections, and a Delta jet getting tagged by a firework on final into Midway. Sit back, buckle up, and let's take off.

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The Scoop: The FAA has proposed lifting the more than 50 year ban on civil supersonic flight over the continental United States, publishing a notice of proposed rulemaking on June 30 that would replace the decades old speed limit with a noise based standard, according to Robb Report. Under the proposal, aircraft could fly faster than Mach 1 over land as long as they do not produce a sonic boom that reaches the ground, a concept the industry calls “boomless cruise.” The plan implements a June 2025 executive order and leans on a flight technique known as Mach cutoff, in which aircraft design, altitude, speed, and atmospheric conditions combine to refract the boom back into the atmosphere. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said advances in engineering and noise reduction can eliminate the old sonic boom while limiting noise for communities along the route, per the reporting. The agency plans a second rule later this year covering takeoff and landing noise, with both targeted to be finalized by mid 2027. Boom Supersonic, whose Overture is designed to reach Mach 1.7 and carries orders from United and American, is among the developers watching closely, and its XB-1 demonstrator broke the sound barrier on a 2025 test flight.

Our Take: We are pretty excited about this one, and not just because it is fun to imagine San Francisco to New York in a fraction of the time. This is a real win for Boom, and potentially for the OEMs building the fastest business jets on the market. The honest question is market size. If you are already comfortable writing a check for a top of the line large cabin jet, another chunk of change for a supersonic option is not unthinkable, but that pool of buyers is not unlimited, and somebody has to fund the billions it takes to build and certify a clean sheet supersonic engine.

As we talked about on the show, time is money for the people who fly privately, and that is the whole case for going supersonic. But regulatory permission is only the first gate. There is still an airplane to certify, an engine to finance, and a route map to prove out. Our read: this clears a lane, and now the hard part begins. Full throttle on the paperwork, holding short on the hype.

Read More: Robb Report

The Scoop: A century old clothing optional beach at Hanlan's Point on the Toronto Islands has become an unlikely flashpoint in a fight over expanding Billy Bishop Toronto City airport, according to the Financial Times. The airport, a short ferry ride from downtown and serving about 20 North American cities, sits at the center of a plan to grow annual passenger capacity from roughly 2 million to 10 million by lengthening the runway to handle larger jets, something barred under an agreement dating to the 1980s. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who introduced legislation to take ownership of city owned land at the airport, claims the expansion could generate up to C$140 billion over 25 years and aligns with Prime Minister Mark Carney's goal of attracting C$1 trillion in foreign investment, the FT reports. The Toronto Port Authority, which owns and operates the airport, said expansion could cost up to C$5 billion and asserted it would not require public funds. Opponents, including the residents' group NoJetsTO and New Democratic Party leader Avi Lewis, frame it as a fight over who the city is for, while beachgoers worry the runway work could threaten a site long treasured by nudists and the city's LGBTQ community. Carney initially called the plan a "very interesting vision" but later told reporters in June he had not formed an opinion, per the FT, and passenger traffic at Billy Bishop has declined from 2.8 million in 2017 to 1.75 million last year.

Our Take: We will be upfront, this might be the most entertaining business aviation story we have ever covered, and we could not quite keep a straight face recording it. But underneath the obvious jokes, there is a serious infrastructure fight here. This is really a story about who an urban airport is for, and the opposition has seized on the optics of expanding a downtown field to move more private and business traffic.

Think about the marketing angle for a second. Saint Maarten built a global tourism brand around people standing at the end of a runway, so there is a version of this where proximity is a feature, not a bug. The harder question for our industry is the framing. When expansion gets sold to the public as a runway for the Davos crowd, it hands opponents an easy narrative. The lesson for anyone pushing airport growth is that the business case has to be about jobs, access, and connectivity, not just bigger jets. This one is far from cleared for takeoff.

Read More: Financial Times

The Scoop: China has indefinitely suspended non essential general aviation nationwide, including private light aircraft, business jets, and pilot training, following a fatal June 26 crash in Beijing, according to FL360aero, citing Hong Kong's Ming Pao. A light aircraft struck the 528 meter CITIC Tower, also known as China Zun, in Beijing's central business district during the evening rush hour, killing the sole pilot on board and injuring 13 people on the ground, local authorities said. The report says controllers repeatedly called the aircraft, registration B-12PP, without response, and the military scrambled helicopters to intercept before it hit the building. Authorities issued an emergency notice suspending general aviation within a 300 kilometer radius of Beijing and ordered nationwide background checks on all licensed pilots, including assessments of their physical and mental health kept on file for at least a year. Business jets, pilot training, and necessary operations must now provide certification letters from the government or relevant authorities. The article notes China's sport pilot license carries a low bar, roughly 30 hours of training and one hour of solo flight with no medical exam, and reports that flying clubs in Shanghai and elsewhere have ceased operating, with the suspension expected to last at least 10 days.

Our Take: This one is a study in contrasts. A blanket, nationwide shutdown of general aviation is a distinctly collectivist response, and it is hard to imagine it landing the same way in the United States, where grounding every non emergency flight over a single tragic incident would be almost unthinkable. That difference in how the two systems handle risk tells you a lot.

There is also a real market story underneath. China has been working to stand up a low altitude economy, and an incident like this, followed by tighter pilot standards and background checks, puts downward pressure on that growth just as it was getting going. For anyone who has worried about China as the next great force in general aviation manufacturing, whether through its ties to Cirrus or Diamond, this looks more like a setback than an acceleration.

Read More: FL360aero

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The Scoop: The Allen & Co. Sun Valley Conference, the invitation only retreat often called “summer camp for billionaires,” is back for its annual July run in Idaho, with private jets crowding Friedman Memorial Airport in nearby Hailey, according to Forbes. The New York investment bank has hosted the gathering for more than 40 years, and it runs with no public agenda, no official guest list, and little press access. Citing a list reported by Variety, Forbes says expected attendees include Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai, Sam Altman, and Anthropic's Dario Amodei, alongside media and entertainment leaders such as David Ellison, David Zaslav, and Bob Iger. Sports commissioners Roger Goodell and Rob Manfred are also on the reported list. Forbes notes artificial intelligence is expected to dominate the conversation, and that the event has a long history of seeding major media deals, from Disney's ABC acquisition to Jeff Bezos buying The Washington Post. The report adds that some locals are increasingly uneasy about the disruption and the environmental impact of all the private flights, with protests planned near the resort.

Our Take: For our world, Sun Valley week is less about the guest list and more about the tarmac. When a small mountain airport suddenly absorbs a wave of heavy metal, that is a concentrated display of exactly the buyer this industry chases. We wonder which OEM has a sales tent set up at the field, but the underlying point is real. This is one of the densest gatherings of ultra long range jet owners you will find all year.

The nuance worth keeping in mind is the tier. These are not fractional or jet card prospects, they are full airplane owners at the very top of the market, so the opportunity skews toward the OEMs and the brokers who serve that segment. And with AI dealmaking driving this year's attendance, expect the flight logs out of Hailey to tell their own story about where the next wave of capital is moving. If you got a selfie with an attendee, send it to us!

Read More: Forbes

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The Scoop: NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman flew a Northrop F-5 Tiger II in the Fourth of July flyover over Washington, D.C., after the FAA had denied a request to include four of the vintage jets in the event, according to AVweb, citing a Wall Street Journal report. The FAA denied the request on June 30, citing concerns about the 1970s era aircraft, their ejection systems, prior accidents, and potential risk to people and property on the ground, and it classified the jets as "very high-risk." Isaacman told the Journal there was no question the flyover could be conducted safely, pointing to the F-5's long service history and the number still flying worldwide, and said the dispute stemmed from a misunderstanding over whether the aircraft should have been classified as government rather than civilian. He said he placed the aircraft under NASA control before the flyover, though the titles had not been transferred, and FAA records list his company, JDI Holdings, as owner of three of the four jets. The Journal reported that Isaacman had initially planned to carry passengers, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House officials, but those rides were canceled. The flyover proceeded as part of a larger formation of U.S. military aircraft.

Our Take: On the safety merits, there is a real argument. The F-5 has a long operational history and plenty of examples still flying, which is a different situation from a one of a kind experimental airframe. If the airplane is airworthy and flown by a capable pilot, the case for letting it fly is not crazy.

Where we get less comfortable is the optics of clearing an FAA objection by reclassifying the aircraft. Air shows do see experimental aircraft come to grief, which is exactly the risk the FAA is charged with weighing. Reasonable people can disagree here, and we suspect this debate over who reviews what, and under which rules, is not going away. For now, we will just say we love a good flyover and leave the jurisdiction to the lawyers.

Read More: AVweb

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The Scoop: A Delta Air Lines flight reported being struck by a firework as it descended into Chicago's Midway International Airport on the Fourth of July, according to reporting on the incident. Delta Flight 1076, an Airbus A319 inbound from Atlanta, was at about 200 feet on final when the crew reported a loud bang and told controllers a firework had hit the plane. Air traffic control audio captured controllers noting multiple similar reports that evening, with one controller greeting a following flight with a wry line about a war zone. The aircraft landed safely and no injuries were reported. The Chicago Police Department later said the plane sustained minor paint damage, and the FAA said it is investigating. Consumer fireworks can reach altitudes in the 50 to 200 foot range, which put the descending jet within reach during the holiday celebrations.

Our Take: Every pilot knows to scan for birds. Now, apparently, the Fourth of July adds fireworks to the checklist. The good news is that the airplane was fine, with only minor cosmetic damage, and it went back into service, so this lands closer to a scare than a disaster.

Read More: WBAL-TV

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Barefoot and Boat Bound

Jessie brought this one to the show from, of all places, LinkedIn. A video making the rounds shows a helicopter pilot greasing a landing onto a boat while flying completely barefoot. It turns out he is a fish spotter, one of the airborne scouts who hunt down schools of tuna and other catches for commercial boats in places like Alaska. Flying barefoot, believe it or not, does not break any FARs, though we suspect an OSHA inspector might have opinions. Then again, not much about an offshore fishing operation screams OSHA to begin with. Beautiful flying either way.

The MRO Gold Rush

Preston's item is a live market signal. Our friend Clint Fiore, a business broker who is active on X, is on the hunt for more Part 145 repair stations to sell, and he has already closed one with another under contract. He told us he is targeting shops with roughly $10 million to $20 million in revenue, where deals are reportedly changing hands at four to seven times EBITDA. Investors have clearly decided that MROs are attractive, durable businesses, and private equity and search funds are circling the space for roll ups. If you own a sizable repair station and would entertain an offer, send us a LinkedIn DM and we will connect you with Clint.

Missed the podcast? Catch up on the full episode at the links below! We would LOVE if you would give us a 5 star review, and share with your friends!

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Jessie’s Links:
Private Aviation Safety Alliance
FlyVizor
LinkedIn

Preston’s Links:
Prestige Aircraft Finance
Private Jet Insider (Newsletter)
LinkedIn
X (Formerly Known as Twitter)
FastJets

Disclaimer: The VIP Seat Weekly is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Coverage of publicly traded companies reflects the personal opinions of the hosts and does not constitute investment, financial, tax, or legal advice, nor a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. The hosts are not registered investment advisors and may hold positions in companies discussed. All investments carry risk. Readers should conduct their own research and consult a qualified financial professional before making any investment decision.