Gulfstream completes four-aircraft G400 flight-test fleet

Gulfstream has completed its four-aircraft flight-test fleet for the G400, with a fully cabin-outfitted example performing its maiden flight in the past seven days, according to FlightGlobal.

During that mission, the twinjet flew for around 3.5 hours and reached 48,000 feet, according to Mark Burns, president of the Savannah, Georgia manufacturer. Burns said the G400 programme is "going really well" and that "We are really making good progress with the flight testing". However, he declined to predict when certification might arrive: "I don't make that call."

Missing the 2025 target

Gulfstream set a 2025 certification goal at the G400's launch in 2021, a target that has now passed without update. The Pratt & Whitney Canada PW812GA-powered twinjet first flew in August 2024.

Burns said he does not have a time schedule for certification but expressed confidence that critical safety systems are performing well. "The things aviation people worry about – flights into known icing, the handling characteristics of the airplane – all that has gone fine on the G400," he said.

He added that the G400 "benefits tremendously" from lessons learned during certification of four other aircraft over the past seven years, as well as from commonality with its larger G500 and G600 siblings. Burns remains confident there are no showstoppers preventing FAA approval: "I don't see any performance issues or any issues that would delay us getting to the finish line, but again, it's not our finish line."

FAA improvements since G700 certification

Certification of the G700 was achieved in March 2024 after a particularly challenging process hampered in part by COVID-19 impacts and FAA failings. Burns was vocal in his criticism at the time, but he noted that the agency has since made tangible improvements. The FAA's validation of the G800, achieved in April 2025, "couldn't have gone better," he said.

The reporting does not say when Gulfstream expects to submit the G400 for FAA certification, nor does it provide a range for when approval might arrive.