Major Business Aircraft Manufacturers

Airbus

Founded: 1970
HQ: Toulouse, France
Top executive: Chadi Saade, ACJ president
Website :acj.airbus.com

Airbus flew its first passenger jet, the A300, in 1972 with service entry following in 1974. The model marked the initial offering from what would become Europe’s largest aerospace and defense company. Airbus forayed into the corporate jet market in 1997, and today the Airbus Corporate Jets business unit offers the ACJ TwoTwenty, ACJneo, ACJ330neo, and ACJ350.

Airbus Helicopters

Founded: 1992
HQ: Marignane, France
Top executive: Matthieu Louvot, CEO
Website: helicopters.airbus.com

Airbus Helicopters is the rotorcraft wing of Airbus. It was founded as Eurocopter Group and was rebranded as Airbus Helicopters in 2014. The company and its predecessor firms have been pioneers in rotorcraft development for decades. The product line includes entries in the intermediate-single, light-twin, medium, super-medium, and heavy segments, as well as Airbus Corporate Helicopters.

Bell

Founded: 1935
HQ: Fort Worth, Texas
Top executive: Danny Maldonado, president and CEO
Website: bellflight.com

Bell, a subsidiary of Textron since 1960, is an aerospace manufacturer that has developed civilian and military aircraft and rotorcraft since 1935. Currently, Bell manufactures the 505, 407GXi, 429, 412EPX, and 525 helicopters for the civilian market. Maximum passenger counts range from four in the 505 to 16 in the 525, which is expected to receive FAA certification in 2026. The company is also developing high-speed vertical takeoff and landing technology for military uses.

Boeing

Founded: 1916
HQ: Arlington, Virginia
Top executive: Joe Benson, BBJ president
Website: businessjets.boeing.com

The Boeing Company operates in 65 countries and maintains offerings across the aerospace realm, manufacturing aircraft, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and communications equipment for civilian and military clients. Boeing became one of the world’s largest aerospace companies after its merger with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Its civil aircraft offerings include the 737, 777, and 787. The company’s Boeing Business Jets division offers narrowbody models of the BBJ based on the 737, while widebody models include the 777 and 787.

Bombardier

Founded: 1942
HQ: Montréal
Top executive: Éric Martel, president and CEO
Website: bombardier.com

A standalone business jet manufacturer since 2021, Bombardier makes and supports Challengers and Globals, spanning the super-midsize to ultra-long-range jet categories. The first member of its ultra-long-range Global family, the Global Express, flew in 1996. The super-midsize Challenger 300 first flew in 2001 and entered service in 2004. In 2018, the ultra-long-range Global 7500 was certified, and the faster and longer-range Global 8000 entered service in December 2025.

Cirrus

Founded: 1984
HQ: Duluth, Minnesota
Top executive: Zean Nielsen, CEO 
Website: cirrusaircraft.com

Cirrus manufactures the SR line of piston-powered, single-engine aircraft and the single-engine SF50 Vision Jet. The company is owned by the China Aviation Industries General Aircraft (CAIGA) division of state-owned AVIC. In 2024, Cirrus delivered its 10,000th aircraft, and the number of Vision Jets in customer hands has exceeded 700. All are equipped with the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System, and the recently introduced G3 Vision Jet adds seating for six adults and ATC datalink com. 

Daher Aircraft

Founded: 1863
HQ: Paris-Orly, France
Top executive: Nicolas Chabbert, CEO
Website: daher.com

Daher is a diversified aerospace manufacturing and logistics and supply-chain-services company whose aviation roots date to 1911 with the founding of Morane-Saulnier. It produces the Kodiak 100 and 900 and TBM single-engine turboprops and manufactures components for other airframers. To meet growing demand for its Kodiaks and TBMs, Daher is opening production lines at its Stuart, Florida manufacturing facility. This will supplement Kodiak manufacturing in Sandpoint, Idaho, and TBM production in Tarbes, France.  

Dassault

Founded: 1929
HQ: Paris, France
Top executive: Éric Trappier, president and CEO
Website: dassault-aviation.com

Dassault has a rich history of military and civil aircraft production. The Falcon 50 trijet was certified in 1979 followed by the 900-series trijet entering service in 1986, then the Falcon 2000 midsize twinjet in 1995. The ultra-long-range Falcon 7X trijet, the first fly-by-wire business jet, entered service in 2007, followed by the longer-range 8X in 2016. The twin-engine Falcon 6X entered service in 2023, and the company’s new flagship, the large-cabin, ultra-long-range Falcon 10X twinjet, should begin deliveries in 2029.

Embraer Executive Jets

Founded: 1969
HQ: São Paulo Dos Campos, Brazil
Top executive: Michael Amalfitano, EEJ President and CEO
Website: embraer.com

Embraer Executive Jets (EEJ) produces light to super-midsize twinjets. Established in 2005, it launched the Phenom 100 and Phenom 300 jets, with deliveries beginning in 2008–2009. It brought fly-by-wire to midsize jets with the Legacy 450 and 500, entering service in the mid-2010s. Embraer rebranded these as the Praetor 500 and 600 in 2018, and discontinued the large-cabin Legacy 650 and Lineage 1000 in 2020. Current aircraft include the Phenom 100EX and 300E; midsize Praetor 500; and super-midsize Praetor 600.

Gulfstream

Founded: 1958
HQ: Savannah, Georgia
Top executive: Mark Burns, president
Website: gulfstream.com

A General Dynamics company since 1999, Gulfstream Aerospace brought the GIII and GIV to market in the 1980s. The 1990s brought Gulfstream’s first sales contract with NetJets and the debut of the GV. In the 2000s, Gulfstream bought Galaxy Aerospace, developing its midsize jets into the G100/G150 and G200/G280. The product line now includes the super-midsize G280, G500, G600, G700, and G800. The next members will be the G300 upgrade of the super-midsize G280 and the large-cabin G400, which is expected to enter service in 2026.

Honda Aircraft

Founded: 2006
HQ: Greensboro, North Carolina
Top executive: Hideto Yamasaki, president and CEO
Website: hondajet.com

The HondaJet was first delivered in 2015, and the current iteration is the HondaJet Elite II. The twinjet features a patented over-the-wing engine mount design. In 2021, Honda Aircraft unveiled a concept for its next aircraft, the Concept 2600, a larger light jet with a transcontinental range of 2,625 nm and a midsize-jet cabin that seats up to 11 passengers. Now called the Echelon, its performance goals include a maximum cruise speed of 450 knots and a maximum altitude of 47,000 feet.

Leonardo

Founded: 1948
HQ: Rome
Top executive: Lorenzo Mariani, CEO
Website: leonardo.com

Leonardo manufactures a wide variety of rotorcraft and airplanes for civil and military applications. Agusta represented the rotorcraft branch, which began developing and manufacturing helicopters in 1952. The A109 first flew in 1971 and entered service in 1976. A lightweight, twin-engine utility helicopter, it has proven to be the company’s bestseller and is still manufactured today, along with the AW119Kx, AW139, AW169, AW189, and AW101. Development of the AW609 tiltrotor aircraft continues, as does that for its AW09 light single helicopter. 

MD Helicopters

Founded: 1955
HQ: Mesa, Arizona
Top executive: Ryan Weeks, president
Website: mdhelicopters.com

MD Helicopters traces its roots to 1955 when Hughes Tool’s aircraft division began developing light helicopters. After a series of mergers and divestments, MD eventually became an independent company in 2005. MD Helicopters emerged from bankruptcy in 2022, and it continues to support its fleet with parts and an authorized service center network, and recently introduced the six-bladed MD 564.

Piaggio Aerospace

Founded: 1884
HQ: Villanova d'Albenga (Savona), Italy
Top executive: Cristian Toninelli, president and CEO
Website: piaggioaerospace.it

After entering administrative restructuring in December 2018, Piaggio Aerospace is now under new ownership by Turkish defense company Baykar. The company has restarted production of the P.180 Avanti Evo version of the unique twin-engine, three-lifting surface turboprop. Capable of flying more than 400 knots cruise speed, the spacious P.180 can fly 1,300 nm and as high as 41,000 feet, much higher than other more traditional turboprops. 

Pilatus Aircraft

Founded: 1939
HQ: Stans, Switzerland
Top executive: Markus Bucher, CEO
Website: pilatus-aircraft.com

Pilatus Aircraft’s PC-12 single-engine business and utility turboprop entered service in 1994 and it has since delivered more than 2,200. The newest iteration, the PC-12 Pro, features Garmin avionics, an autothrottle, and Autoland technology. In 2018, the company began deliveries of the twin-engine PC-24 Super Versatile Jet, which can take off and land on unimproved, rough airfields and haul outsized cargo, thanks to an oversized rear cargo door and flexible cabin layout. The PC-24 can fly 2,000 nm and at cruise speeds up to 440 knots. 

Piper Aircraft 

Founded: 1927
HQ: Vero Beach, Florida 
Top executive: John Calcagno, president and CEO 
Website: piper.com

Piper Aircraft builds a full line of piston and turboprop single and twin-engine aircraft. Piston models include the single-engine Pilot 100i, Archer LX, diesel-powered DLX, and pressurized M350, along with the twin-engine Seminole and Seneca. Piper also builds two turboprop singles based on the M350 fuselage, the M500 and M700 Fury. The six-seat M700 cruises at 301 knots and is equipped with the Garmin emergency Autoland system, which can automatically land the aircraft in the event of pilot incapacitation. 

Sikorsky

Founded: 1925
HQ: Stratford, Connecticut
Top executive: Richard Benton, v-p and GM
Website: lockheedmartin.com

Lockheed Martin acquired Sikorsky for $9 billion in 2015. Production of its civil models, the S-76D medium twin and the S-92A heavy twin, has languished due to resourcing priorities, U.S. regulatory changes, and market forces. Meanwhile, Sikorsky has spent $100 million to develop the Phase IV gearbox for the S-92A, which features an auxiliary lubrication system. The company has also engineered other improvements to the S-92A, such as longer maintenance intervals and a gearbox housing life extension.

Textron Aviation 

Founded: 2014
HQ: Wichita, Kansas
Top executive: Brian Rohloff, president and CEO
Website: txtav.com

Textron Aviation was created in 2014 when Cessna parent Textron acquired Beechcraft and Hawker. Cessna’s first business jet, the Citation I (Cessna 500), flew in 1969, and a decade later Citations were the world’s bestselling business jets. Cessna sells six jet models, ranging from the small-cabin Citation M2 to the super-­midsize Citation Longitude, with the latest the Citation Ascend upgrade of the XLS Gen2. Beechcraft’s twin-engine King Air 260 and 360 turboprops will soon be joined by the Cessna Denali single-engine turboprop.