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Financing

Aircraft loan rates: today's benchmarks and published rates

Aircraft loan interest rates explained: the prime rate, Treasury yields and SOFR lenders price from, rates lenders publish with their dates, and what moves the rate on your loan.

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Natan BenchimolExecutive Vice PresidentUpdated October 11, 2026 · Published October 11, 2026 · 3 min read

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The short answer: lenders that publish aircraft loan rates showed starting or "as low as" rates from about 5.6% to 9% in their September and October 2026 rate sheets, varying with the aircraft, the term and the lender. Those rates are built on public benchmarks: the bank prime rate was 7.00% on October 2, 2026, and the 5-year Treasury yield 4.99% on October 8, 2026. The rate you are offered depends on your credit, how much you put down, the aircraft and the loan structure.

This page lists both, with dates, and we refresh the benchmarks monthly. Nothing here is a rate offer: CRAFT is a charter operator, not a lender.

The benchmarks aircraft loans are priced from

Most lenders start from a benchmark that reflects what money costs them, then add a margin for the risk of your loan. Fixed-rate money for a few years tracks Treasury yields; floating rates are usually set as a margin over the prime rate or SOFR.

Benchmark interest rates that aircraft loans are priced from, latest and a year earlier
Benchmark	Latest	A year earlier	Change
Bank prime loan rateThe rate most large banks post as a base for business and consumer lending; variable-rate loans are often set as prime plus or minus a margin.	7.00%October 2, 2026	7.25%October 2, 2025	−0.25 pts
5-year Treasury yieldMarket yield on 5-year U.S. Treasury securities (constant maturity): a reference point for what fixed-rate money costs over five years.	4.99%October 8, 2026	3.72%October 8, 2025	+1.27 pts
10-year Treasury yieldMarket yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury securities (constant maturity): the same reference over ten years.	5.22%October 8, 2026	4.13%October 8, 2025	+1.09 pts
Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR)The overnight benchmark that replaced LIBOR for U.S. dollar lending; floating-rate business loans are commonly set as SOFR plus a margin.	3.87%October 8, 2026	4.12%October 8, 2025	−0.25 pts

Source: Federal Reserve Board (H.15 Selected Interest Rates) and Federal Reserve Bank of New York (SOFR), via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Retrieved October 12, 2026; we refresh these monthly. Benchmarks are what lenders price from, not aircraft loan rates.

In the year to October 2026, short-term rates (prime and SOFR) came down while 5- and 10-year Treasury yields went up. That matters for an aircraft loan: a floating-rate loan tied to prime or SOFR would have become cheaper, while new fixed-rate loans priced off Treasuries would have become more expensive.

Rates lenders publish

Some lenders publish their aircraft loan rates. These are quoted exactly as each publisher states them, with the date on their page. They are starting rates for qualified borrowers, and each comes with conditions.

Aircraft loan rates as published by lenders, with dates and conditions
Publisher	Rates as published	Conditions stated
Flying FinanceAviation finance firmOctober 2026	Certified piston: 6.60% Turboprop and jet: 6.74% MOSAIC light sport: 7.37% Experimental and kit: 7.44%	Starting rates, described by the publisher as a baseline market average for standard transactions; up to 20-year amortization. No down payment, credit or loan-size conditions stated with the figures.
Wings Credit UnionCredit unionEffective October 9, 2026	84 months: 7.99% APR 120 months ($25,000 minimum): 8.49% APR 180 months ($35,000 minimum): 8.99% APR	"As low as" rates for aircraft of model year 2021 and newer; subject to change without notice. Membership required.
American Airlines Federal Credit UnionCredit unionEffective September 18, 2026	Boat and airplane loans: 5.59% APR (as low as)	Small aircraft of 549 horsepower or less; not available for kit or experimental aircraft; terms up to 120 months; the lowest rate includes qualifying discounts. Membership required.

Quoted from each publisher's own page, checked October 11, 2026. Advertised “from” and “as low as” rates are for the best-qualified borrowers and change without notice; they are not offers from CRAFT, which is not a lender. Pages that show a rate without a date are left out.

AOPA Aviation Finance and some specialist lenders also publish rate ranges without a date; we leave those out because a rate without a date can't be compared. Several large banks and private banks quote aircraft loans individually and publish no rates at all.

What moves the rate on your loan

The benchmark sets the floor. These set your margin above it:

Credit and liquidity. The strongest profiles get the advertised starting rates.
Down payment and loan-to-value. More equity means less risk for the lender. For jets, AOPA Aviation Finance describes credit-based loans at 15% to 20% down and asset-based loans at 30% to 40% down.
The aircraft. Age, type, records and how easy it is to value and resell. Some rate sheets apply only to newer aircraft (Wings Credit Union's published rates are for model year 2021 and newer).
Term and structure. Longer fixed terms usually cost more. A balloon at year five lowers the payment but leaves a balance to refinance at the rates of the day.
Loan size. Some lenders set minimums for longer terms, such as $25,000 for 10 years and $35,000 for 15 years on Wings Credit Union's sheet; private banks focus on larger loans.
Relationship and payment method. Flying Finance notes autopay and an existing relationship may improve a rate by 0.25 to 0.5 points.

What lenders check on the aircraft itself, from title to logbooks to damage history, is in our guide to aircraft financing.

What a rate difference costs

A rate is easier to judge as a payment. On an $18 million aircraft with 20% down over 15 years, every half-point of rate changes the monthly payment by several thousand dollars. Try your own numbers in the aircraft loan calculator, which opens on the U.S. bank prime rate, 7.00% on October 2, 2026 (Federal Reserve H.15) as an example rate you can replace. The same example assumptions give these payments:

Example monthly loan payments and cost of ownership by aircraft
Aircraft	Example price	Loan payment a month	With operating cost
Cessna Citation CJ3+	$5 million	$35,953	$127,745
Embraer Phenom 300E	$9.1 million	$65,435	$162,462
Bombardier Challenger 300	$9.3 million	$66,873	$216,678
Bombardier Challenger 350	$18 million	$129,431	$280,828
Gulfstream G280	$19 million	$136,622	$286,773
Gulfstream G650	$39 million	$280,434	$570,733

Illustrations, not offers: 20% down, 15-year amortization at 7.00% (the U.S. bank prime rate, 7.00% on October 2, 2026 (Federal Reserve H.15), used only as an example rate). Example prices are the median of UseRadar's value data for each model; operating cost is our ownership cost model at 200 hours a year. Change any of it in the aircraft loan calculator.

How we keep this page current

The benchmark table refreshes monthly from FRED, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis's database of Federal Reserve data, and each figure shows its own date. Published lender rates are checked against each lender's page when we refresh, and dropped if a page no longer shows a dated rate. If you are a lender and a figure here is out of date, let us know.

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We'll pass your request to aircraft lenders who finance that kind of aircraft, so they can quote you a real rate. No credit details needed here, and nothing is a loan offer: CRAFT is not a lender.

Sources

Federal Reserve Board, H.15 Selected Interest Rates, via FRED: bank prime loan rate, 5-year Treasury, 10-year Treasury; Federal Reserve Bank of New York, SOFR
Flying Finance, aircraft loan rates (October 2026)
Wings Credit Union, aircraft rates (effective October 9, 2026)
American Airlines Federal Credit Union, airplane loans (effective September 18, 2026)
AOPA Aviation Finance, exploring aircraft financing options for jet purchases (February 1, 2025) and homepage

Lender pages checked October 11, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What are aircraft loan rates right now?

Lenders that publish aircraft rates showed starting or "as low as" figures from about 5.6% to 9% in their September and October 2026 rate sheets, depending on the aircraft, the term and the lender. The benchmarks they price from (the prime rate, Treasury yields and SOFR) are in the table on this page with their dates. Your own rate depends on your credit, the aircraft and the loan structure.

Are aircraft loan rates fixed or variable?

Both are common. Fixed-rate loans are often fixed for a term of around five years on an amortization of 15 to 20 years, then refinanced or paid off. Floating-rate loans move with a benchmark such as the prime rate or SOFR plus a margin. AOPA Aviation Finance lists fixed and floating rates among its options.

Why is my quoted rate higher than the advertised rate?

Advertised "from" and "as low as" rates are for the best-qualified borrowers, often on newer aircraft, specific terms and with discounts such as autopay. Older aircraft, smaller or larger loans, longer terms, lower credit scores or less money down usually price higher.

How do I get a lower rate on an aircraft loan?

Put more money down, choose a newer or easier-to-value aircraft with complete records, keep the term shorter, and compare several lenders. Flying Finance notes that autopay and an existing banking relationship may improve a rate by 0.25 to 0.5 percentage points.

Does CRAFT offer aircraft loans?

No. CRAFT is a Part 135 charter operator, not a lender. The rates on this page are public benchmarks and figures lenders publish themselves, quoted with their dates. If you would like quotes, our get-matched form passes your request to aircraft lenders.

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