Business Aviation Interviews

An Interview with Gulfstream

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An Interview with Gulfstream
Mark Burns
Mark Burns
President Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.

Gulfstream had a great year in 2021 with the dual launch of the G400 and G800. Can you tell us about both aircraft?

The Gulfstream G800 is the longest-range aircraft in Gulfstream’s history and the business-jet industry, and the Gulfstream G400 is the first new entrant to the large-cabin class in more than a decade.

The G800 is designed to seat up to 19 passengers and offers customers the longest range with its 8,000-nautical-mile/14,816- kilometer range at Mach 0.85 and 7,000-nm/12,964-km range at Mach 0.90.

Powered by high-thrust Rolls-Royce Pearl 700 engines and the Gulfstream-designed wing and winglet introduced on the Gulfstream G700, the G800 also features enhanced fuel efficiency and more city-pair capabilities.

The all-new G400 offers a combination of long-range, high speed performance; cabin comfort; and environmental efficiency unrivaled in its class.

With its 4,200-nm/7,778-km range and long-range cruise speed of Mach 0.87, the G400 continues to build on Gulfstream’s goal of improving the environmental efficiency of our aircraft by reducing fuel consumption, emissions and noise through its use of Gulfstream’s aerodynamic clean-wing design and advanced Pratt & Whitney PW812GA engines.

Asia-Pacific is seen as a large cabin, long range market, do you see much success for the G400 here?

We see great opportunities for the G400 in the Asia-Pacific region.

The combination of range, technology, cabin size and efficiency is something that has not been seen in the large-cabin segment until now, so the G400 really creates an aircraft category that has never been seen in Asia-Pacific.

The G400 was designed alongside the G500 and G600, with those two aircraft launching in 2014. Why is now the right time to launch the aircraft?

There has been a void in the large-cabin market for more than a decade, and we recognized that the market was primed and ready for the G400 announcement in late 2021.

The aircraft hits the sweet spot in the 4,200 nm/7,778 km range with advanced technology including the next-generation Gulfstream Symmetry Flight Deck.

The large, flexible cabin has been designed with health and wellness in mind including 100%, purified air, low noise levels and low-cabin altitudes.

Gulfstream has more aircraft in design/ certification than at any other time in its history, what is driving this?

Gulfstream’s current fleet, both the in-production aircraft and those in flight-test and development, is a fulfillment of our holistic vision of a Gulfstream for every mission.

When Gulfstream introduced the G500 and G600 in 2014, we brought to the market our next generation of aircraft, with ground-breaking flight deck advancements and a new level of cabin comfort and technology.

We followed that up with the introduction of the G700, Gulfstream’s largest aircraft, in 2019 and, most recently, the G800 and G400, which round out this next-generation Gulfstream fleet.

In combination with the G650ER and super-midsize G280, our customers can choose an aircraft specifically tailored to their needs.

Could the launch of the G800 so close to the G700 potentially confuse buyers?

The launch of the G800 really clarified the market for the G650ER, G700 and G800, at the high end of range, cabin size and performance.

The two aircraft present distinct offerings with the same powerful, efficient engines, advanced flight-deck and cabin technology – the G700 offers the largest cabin in the industry and the G800 offers the longest range.

Asia loves the G650, are you expecting the G800 to have similar success in the region?

We anticipate both the G700 and G800 to be very popular in Asia-Pacific – Gulfstream established the leading market share in the region with the G650 and G650ER, and customers there have confidence in Gulfstream and our commitment to high performance standards and Customer Support.

We expect that confidence to translate to broad interest in all our next-generation aircraft, including the G400, G500, G600, G700 and G800.

Gulfstream is known for having great customer support, can you talk us through the different locations and levels of support that you have in the region?

Gulfstream’s service capability has always been part of who we are, and we’ve built this into a major strength over the past 60 years.

We are firm believers that a strong service and support network is integral to the ownership experience.

The Gulfstream Customer Support Beijing service center is a prime example of this.

As we established a large fleet in the region, we identified the need to support customers in their home country and opened the business-jet industry’s first company-owned service center in China in 2012 and have remained committed to the site, adding new capabilities and services through the years.

In partnership with sister company Jet Aviation, Gulfstream also offers company-authorized services in Hong Kong and Singapore.

We have seen manufacturers making MRO acquisitions in the region to expand their maintenance capabilities, is this something that Gulfstream would consider?

Gulfstream is in a unique – and strong – position when it comes to our service network because of the financial strength and support of our parent company General Dynamics and relationship with sister company Jet Aviation.

General Dynamics has given us the ability to fund multiple concurrent development programs while also investing in multiple concurrent service center expansions and acquisitions.

With Jet Aviation, we already have an augmented service network with the company-authorized service centers they operate in in Basel and Geneva, Switzerland, Vienna, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Our extensive factory-owned and operated service center network allows us to engage directly with our customers and their aircraft. This means we do not rely solely on a third-party network of service providers.

Instead, we listen to and learn from our customers, and we know what their end-service experiences are first-hand.

We can take this information and transform it into programs and projects that help improve the availability of both new and existing aircraft designs.

As a result, no one knows the aircraft better than we do.

Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.

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