CrewBlast 2025 Operator Data Review

Most Requested Aircraft Types & What the Requests Actually Represented

Throughout 2025, activity inside CrewBlast showed consistent operational patterns. Request volume correlated directly with utilization pressure, trip overlap, and how tightly operators were scheduling aircraft, not aircraft familiarity.

Below are the five most requested aircraft categories on CrewBlast in 2025, listed by volume, along with current contract pilot daily rates and what typically triggered the requests.

1) Gulfstream GVI (G650 / G650ER)

Typical Daily Rate: $3,000–$3,500**

What the requests typically meant
Almost all notifications came from trips that could not slide... international departures, multi-day owner travel, or back-to-back long-range rotations. These were rarely vacation coverage; they were schedule protection events where delay was not an option.

Most fills occurred when:

• A crew member timed out during repositioning
• Rotation extensions exceeded original duty plans
• Last-minute trips appeared inside 24 hours

2) Gulfstream V Series (GV / GVSP / G350/450/550)

Typical Daily Rate: $2,500–$2,800**

What the requests typically meant
This category produced steady, predictable demand. Unlike the GVI, these were less emergency driven and more utilization driven. Operators frequently used contract crew to keep aircraft moving rather than parking them for crew legality or rest.

Common triggers:

• Overlapping schedules
• Peak travel weeks
• Crew reposition inefficiencies

In many cases the contract pilot wasn’t replacing someone — they were enabling an additional trip.

3) CE525 (CJ Series)

Typical Daily Rate: $1,800–$2,000**

What the requests typically meant
This was the highest frequency, lowest lead-time category. Requests often appeared same-day and were typically resolved quickly.

Typical triggers:

• Day trip additions
• Aircraft sold while away from base
• Single-pilot availability gaps
• Trips accepted within hours of departure

Speed of fill mattered more than anything else in this segment.

4) Dassault Falcon 2000 (EASy)

Typical Daily Rate: $2,250**

What the requests typically meant
Nearly all requests were dispatch-reliability related. These aircraft were scheduled tightly and losing a crew member meant losing the trip unless replaced immediately.

Common triggers:

• Trip acceptance after crew duty projections
• Mid-trip crew swaps
• Recovery coverage after maintenance delays

5) Gulfstream IV (GIV / GIV-SP)

Typical Daily Rate: $2,000–$2,250**

What the requests typically meant
This category produced repeat operators. Requests were rarely urgent emergencies, they were predictable staffing gaps tied to smaller typed pilot pools.

Common triggers:

• Known upcoming schedule conflicts
• Limited internal backup crew
• Extended trips creating downstream gaps

What the 2025 Data Shows Operators Are Actually Using CrewBlast For

Across all five aircraft categories, most requests fell into operational continuity rather than crisis response:

Primary use cases

1. Protecting scheduled departures
2. Accepting additional trips without repositioning crews
3. Maintaining utilization during legality constraints

The overall trend is consistent, contract flight crew are being used as an operational extension of staffing rather than a last-resort solution.