Business jet maker Gulfstream will “very soon” deliver the first example of its newly certificated G800 and is on track to hand over 13 of the ultra-long-range aircraft before the end of 2025.
Phebe Novakovic, chief executive of Gulfstream parent General Dynamics, says the Savannah-based airframer is overcoming supply chain troubles and may exceed its prior 2025 delivery target.
“The first G800 should deliver very soon… In the third quarter,” Novakovic said on 23 July as she presented General Dynamics’ second-quarter earnings. “We expect to deliver about 13 G800s for the year.”
She adds that the first 20 G800s will be acquired by customers that own G650s, which Gulfstream stopped producing this year.
“The G800 was designed to replace the G650,” Novakovic says. “There is significant interest in [the G800] from Fortune 500 companies.”
The comments paint a positive picture for Gulfstream, which, like competitors, has been hamstrung in recent years by supply chain and labour shortages.
Gulfstream also faced delays in bringing its two flagships – the 7,750nm (14,300km)-range G700 and 8,200nm-range G800 – through certification; the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved the G700 in March 2024 and the G800 in April.
General Dynamics’ aerospace unit, which includes Gulfstream and services provider Jet Aviation, turned a $403 million second-quarter operating profit, up 26% year on year. It generated $3 billion of revenue during the period, up 4.1% year on year.
“Aerospace had a tremendous quarter,” says General Dynamics chief financial officer Kimberly Kuryea. “This is the strongest first half for orders since 2022.”
The business closed the second quarter holding unfilled orders worth $19.9 billion, up about $900 million in three months.
Gulfstream delivered 38 business jets last quarter – one more than it shipped in the same period of 2024 - including six midsize jets and 32 large-cabin types, among them 15 G700s.
Gulfstream’s first-half 2025 deliveries came to 74 aircraft, putting it on track to deliver 150-155 aircraft for the full year, says Novakovic, slightly up on its previous 150-unit guidance.
“The supply chain continues to improve and is performing better to both schedule and quality. We are finding fewer faults, and those we are finding are easier to fix,” says Novakovic.
“I am increasingly confident we can meet this year’s delivery plan… We are delivering G700s on a much more predictable cadence.”
She adds that Gulfstream is “in the process of completing” pre-delivery work on G700s that had been part of the company’s test fleet for the type, saying, “a number of them will be delivered in the second half” of 2025.
