Gulfstream outfits new private jet at Appleton facility

Stacey Harrison

Contributor

October 6, 2025

APPLETON – Northeast Wisconsin is at the center of a big development in the aviation industry. 

Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation recently announced the first customer delivery of the new G800 – all of which John Kenan, senior vice president of operations for Gulfstream, said was outfitted in the company’s Appleton facility.

All “large-cabin completions” – including interior outfitting and exterior paint – Kenan said, happened at the company’s Appleton facility. 

The Gulfstream G800’s (the world’s longest range business aircraft) entry into service came four months after the jet received its Federal Aviation Administration and European Union Aviation Safety Agency certifications – certifications that enhance performance capabilities. 

Kenan said in just the little more than two months that it’s been in service, demand has been high.

“With the range, speed and cabin comfort the G800 offers, we are seeing outstanding demand for the aircraft around the world,” he said.

The company’s Appleton footprint

Kenan said Gulfstream has been operating in Appleton for more than 25 years. 

“In this time, the region has proven to be a successful business environment for Gulfstream and our customers, in large part thanks to the local workforce and partnerships,” he said. 

Within the past 10 years, Kenan said the company has invested more than $100 million in the State of Wisconsin – which included an upgrade to its Appleton facility.

Today, he said the company’s total Appleton service footprint is more than 624,000 square feet. 

“This site is home to a modernized maintenance repair and overhaul facility, sales and design center, large-cabin completions facility and all-new paint hangar,” he said.

Kenan said the facility supports a broad range of services, including major inspections, structural modifications and major avionics installations and safety upgrades. 

The Appleton facility, he said, also has the capabilities to perform the entire aircraft completions and refurbishment processes – for both in-service and Gulfstream’s all-new, next-generation fleet. 

“Our focus now is on continuing to service customer aircraft from our facility here and outfit the growing fleet of new Gulfstream aircraft, all while supporting our employees and the community they live in,” he said. 

According to gulfstreamnews.com, a majority of the expansions to the Appleton facility came in the last four years.

In 2021, per the website, the company announced a multi-year expansion plan that enabled aircraft completions to take place in Appleton.

In 2022, the company announced it was investing more than $55 million and hiring for more than 200 positions at the Appleton facility.

And in 2023, the new paint hangar opened in Appleton – which can now accommodate up to 48 aircraft per year.

The new G800

Per specs listed on Gulfstream’s website, the new G800 features the industry’s lowest cabin altitude, 100% fresh air in the cabin, a plasma ionization air purification system and 16 panoramic oval windows.

“All of these elements ease the physical strain of traveling over long-duration flights and practically eliminate jet lag,” he said. 

The G800, per the site, can travel 8,200 nautical miles at its long-range cruise speed of Mach 0.85.

In other words, it can travel more than 9,400 miles at approximately 650 miles per hour. 

Gulfstream notes the G800’s maximum operating speed increased to Mach 0.935 from Mach 0.925.

“[The new G800 was designed to] optimize productivity, comfort and flexibility, [and it can] connect destinations around the world nonstop,” Kenan said.

The G800 specs describe that the aircraft’s interior can be configured with up to four living areas or three living areas and a dedicated crew compartment. 

“The G800 cabin environment is a great benefit to passengers and crew,” he said. 

Boosting the aircraft’s design and capabilities, Gulfstream recently announced that the G800 was awarded the 2025 International Yacht & Aviation Award for Private Jet Design.

Kenan said the G800 harnesses Gulfstream-developed technology, including the award-winning Symmetry Flight Deck and other safety advancements.

He said it also features the industry’s “most extensive use” of touch-screen technology.

Kenan said the new jet is part of the company’s next-generation fleet, which also includes the G400, G500, G600 and G700.

Gulfstream President Mark Burns said the company has seen “astounding demand for the G800.”

“The entire Gulfstream team is excited to begin making deliveries to our customers,” he said. “The G800 is entering service with extraordinary program maturity, just like the Gulfstream G700 before it. We look forward to customers around the world experiencing the aircraft’s remarkable capabilities and cabin comfort.”

Burns said he congratulates Gulfstream’s Appleton team – and the more than 21,000 Gulfstream employees worldwide – “for this significant accomplishment in delivering another quality product from our next-generation family of aircraft.”

Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation

Based in Savannah, Georgia, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, per the company’s website, invented the first purpose-built business aircraft, which first flew in 1958.

Today, more than 3,300 aircraft are in service around the world.

Per the website, Gulfstream and its parent company, General Dynamics, continue to research and develop new aircraft, technologies and services.