CORPORATE JETS TAKE A NOSEDIVE

A year ago, it was tough to find a popular private jet like the Gulfstream G450 for sale at any price. Today? "There's 15 or 20 of the damn things out there," says aircraft broker Jim Welsch of Welsch Aviation.

The corporate jet market, once so tight that East European moguls routinely paid 20% above list for the latest models, is glutted. While private jet makers still have order backlogs, a plethora of pre-owned aircraft sits unsold. More than 1,300 are on the block, up 63% from a year ago, says industry watcher Amstat. Companies from the failed Lehman Brothers to the struggling Alcatel-Lucent are selling, as are some stretched billionaires. Lehman recently sold a Dassault Falcon 50 for $6.2 million, a hefty drop from the $9 million it might have fetched last spring. In its bankruptcy filings, the firm said it took the lower price in part because "the current market for pre-owned aircraft is saturated with Falcon 50 aircraft." (There were 38 others for sale.) Buyers see far better deals coming. Carl Russo, CEO of telecom equipment maker Calix Networks, is waiting to upgrade from his Cessna Citation X to a Gulfstream or Bombardier Global Express. "I don't think the bottom is even in sight," he says. And Pat Janas, chairman of broker Corporate Jet Sales, says he's offering owners as little as half of what they're asking. "It's like knocking on doors in a neighborhood filled with Lamborghinis and Ferraris," he says. "Sooner or later, you're going to find somebody who needs the money."