Furthermore, customers now have more choice when purchasing a new plane. The Gulfstream Shared program, which sells fractional interest in Gulfstream planes, has expanded the customer base by providing a less expensive way to expand their aircraft fleet. This new program has also been quite successful abroad. A variety of financing plans are available through Gulfstream for its customers. Furthermore, Gulfstream and GATX Corp. formed a company in 3Q98 to provide operation leases in the long range business aircraft market.
Management is intent on decreasing production times and improving efficiency even further.
Now that the new Gulfstream V is out of development and in full production, research and development costs have declined. Emphasis is being put on building the same quality aircraft in less time without increasing physical production capacity. This minimizes capital expenditures and avoids the cost of building expensive new production facilities. After delivering 51 new aircraft in 1997, GAC plans on finishing 60 planes this year and 65 next year. With 91 aircraft on backorder, Gulfstream can predict with a degree of accuracy future sales and earnings.