VREF | The Truth About the Aviation Market

Episode Summary Aircraft financing looks like a simple rate-shopping exercise… until you’re the one stuck in a bad structure, a surprise covenant, or a refinance that won’t clear because the original valuation doesn’t hold up. In this long-form, name-names episode, Jason breaks down how aircraft lending really works (spoiler: lenders underwrite exit liquidity, not your dream), the difference betwe...

Podcast: The Truth About the Market Host: Jason Zilberbrand, President of VREF Episode Overview In this episode, Jason breaks down a shift many people in aviation feel but haven’t fully named yet: the traditional progression from one aircraft to the next is gone. For decades, aviation ownership followed a ladder. You started somewhere reasonable, stretched your mission, and moved up as experience,...

Episode Overview Artificial intelligence is coming for aviation — fast… But is the industry actually ready for it? In Episode 18 of The Truth About the Market , Jason tackles one of the most requested topics of the year and strips away the hype to examine the real constraints, risks, and opportunities AI presents across aviation. This is not a futurist fantasy episode. It’s a grounded, experience-...

Podcast: The Truth About the Market Host: Jason Zilberbrand, President of VREF Episode Overview In this end-of-year Christmas special, Jason steps back from valuations, depreciation curves, and transactional warfare to reflect on the year that aviation finally remembered gravity. Delivered through a poetic cold-open that rewrites ’Twas the Night Before Christmas for the aircraft industry, this epi...

Podcast: The Truth About the Market Host: Jason Zilberbrand, President & CTO, VREF Episode Overview In this episode, Jason takes you deep into one of the most consequential — and least understood — shifts happening in aviation right now: the privacy war brewing between the FAA, public flight-tracking, ADS-B technology, corporate secrecy, celebrity security, and a century-old registry system bu...

Podcast: The Truth About the Market Host: Jason Zilberbrand, President & CTO, VREF Episode Overview In this eye-opening episode, Jason reveals one of the least discussed — yet most influential — forces in every aircraft transaction: the broker . Not the airplane. Not the market. Not the valuation model. The broker . Using a fictional—but extremely realistic—2012 Citation CJ3, Jason demonstrate...

Episode Overview In this episode, Jason breaks down one of the strangest dynamics to hit aviation in more than a decade — a market that’s slowing down and speeding up at the exact same time. Total transactions are falling… yet the best aircraft are selling faster than they have in years. If you want to understand the real state of the aviation market going into 2026 — not the noise, not the headli...

Podcast: The Truth About the Market Host: Jason Zilberbrand, President & CTO, VREF Episode Overview In this Thanksgiving special, Jason steps away from depreciation curves, absorption rates, and market chaos to talk about something aviation doesn’t celebrate nearly enough: gratitude. But don’t worry — this isn’t some soft, sentimental detour. This is an episode about the real aviation world we...

Host: Jason Zilberbrand, President of VREF, ASA appraiser, expert witness, 30+ years in aviation. Episode Overview In this episode, Jason pulls back the curtain on one of the most common (and expensive) patterns in aviation: the first airplane someone wants to buy is almost always more airplane than they actually need. From turbocharged SR22s to pressurized pistons with FIKI, Jason unpacks how ide...

Podcast: The Truth About the Market Host: Jason Zilberbrand, President & CTO, VREF Length: ~35 minutes Theme: Why aircraft aren’t selling — and what fair market, orderly liquidation, and forced liquidation values really mean when the market slows down Episode Overview In this episode, Jason Zilberbrand takes a hard look at what happens when aircraft stop moving — not just in the air, but in th...

Podcast: The Truth About the Market Host: Jason Zilberbrand, President & CTO, VREF Length: ~45 minutes Theme: The global engine crisis—what caused it, how it’s reshaping aircraft values, and what every operator needs to do next Episode Overview In this episode, Jason Zilberbrand breaks down one of the biggest challenges facing aviation today: the engine shortage . From skyrocketing overhaul le...

Host: Jason Zilberbrand, President & CTO of VREF Length: ~28 minutes Episode Overview In this episode, Jason Zilberbrand takes a hard, unfiltered look at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention — the industry’s flagship event that once defined dealmaking, advocacy, and innovation in business aviation. But in an era of digital transactions, sustainability mandates, and shif...

Host: Jason Zilberbrand, President of VREF, ASA appraiser, expert witness, 30+ years in aviation. Topic: The messy middle between accepted offer and title transfer—what’s supposed to happen, what actually happens, how deals go off the rails, and how to protect yourself. Episode Summary Jason pulls the curtain back on the transaction phase: LOIs, deposits, pre-buys, escrow, title and liens, and clo...

Host: Jason Zilberbrand, President of VREF Aircraft Value Reference & Appraisal Services Summary In one of the most revealing episodes yet, Jason pulls back the curtain on three of the aviation industry’s most misunderstood—and often misused—practices: off-market aircraft, back-to-back transactions, and the broker’s role in 2025. He explains why these deals tempt buyers and sellers alike with...

Host: Jason Zilberbrand, President of VREF Aircraft Value Reference & Appraisal Services Overview In this episode of The Truth About the Market , Jason turns the spotlight on the aviation community itself. Drawing from the latest VREF Market Sentiment Survey, which gathered responses from over 1,000 buyers, sellers, brokers, lenders, and operators, he breaks down what people across the industr...

Host: Jason Zilberbrand, President of VREF Aircraft Value Reference & Appraisal Services Introduction “Can I afford that airplane?” Jason tackles the question he hears every week—moving past listing prices to the real math behind financing structures, down payments, LTV, amortization, liquidity and net-worth requirements, fixed vs. variable operating costs , and practical rules of thumb. With...

Introduction A single dent can erase seven figures from a jet’s value. In this episode, Jason unpacks one of aviation’s most misunderstood—and expensive—topics: damage . Drawing on decades of appraising, federal litigation experience, and a personal war story (a Lear 45 tail strike in a hangar), he explains why damage isn’t a checkbox or a one-size deduction. It’s a nuanced blend of market psychol...

Host: Jason Zilberbrand, President of VREF Aircraft Value Reference & Appraisal Services Introduction Jason pulls back the curtain on aircraft valuation—what it is, what it isn’t, and how bad inputs (or bad actors) can warp the number you’re relying on. Building on Episode 2 (bonus depreciation myths and popularity traps), this episode shows exactly how to value an aircraft and how the new VRE...

Host: Jason Zilberbrand, President of VREF Aircraft Value Reference & Appraisal Services Introduction In this episode of The Truth About the Market , VREF CEO Jason Zilberbrand pulls apart two of the biggest myths driving poor aircraft buying decisions: the illusion of “free jets” through bonus depreciation, and the herd mentality of chasing the most popular aircraft rather than the one that f...

Host: Jason Zilberbrand, President of VREF Aircraft Value Reference & Appraisal Services Introduction Hi everyone, and welcome to the very first episode of The Truth About the Market. I'm your host, Jason Zilberbrand—President of VREF, long-time aviation appraiser, and someone who's spent over three decades deep in this industry. I've worked with everyone from individual owners to Fortune 50 o...