Firm orders and conditional ones

A number of aircraft in a press release is not, by itself, a firm purchase. This site marks a memorandum of understanding, a letter of intent, an option, a refundable reservation, a term sheet, and a deal that still needs closing conditions as conditional. The funding table uses those labels.

Examples from pages opened for this edition:

AutoFlight's October 15, 2026 memorandum says JC Aviation plans to procure 260 eVTOLs between 2026 and 2031, plus 10 SUNSHIP platforms. The same release says two CarryAll aircraft and one SUNSHIP are an initial confirmed commitment, and that the wider procurement is to be finalized in later purchase agreements. The 260 figure stays conditional. The two-plus-one figure is recorded as a confirmed commitment inside an MoU, not as a separate claim that a purchase agreement is signed.
Vertical said on July 13, 2026 that it had about 1,500 conditional pre-orders, which it valued at about $6 billion. Conditional pre-orders are not firm orders.
BETA said Loganair signed a term sheet for five CX300 aircraft, with options for five more. A term sheet is not described as a completed purchase agreement, and the options are conditional.
PAL-V said its reservation portfolio would fill the first three years of production, without giving a number or calling the reservations firm.
Electrek reported more than 3,600 Alef pre-orders, which it valued at $1 billion, with deposits of $150 or $1,500. Electrek did not call them firm purchase contracts.
ASKA's pre-order page says a $5,000 deposit is held in escrow and is fully refundable after one year. A refundable deposit is not a firm order. The page's delivery timing, by 2028, is the company's target.
all-electronics.de reported that four AirCar orders were being held until testing finished and the current aircraft received final airworthiness approval.
Archer said its agreement to acquire Wisk remains subject to closing conditions. That is not a completed acquisition and not an aircraft order.

The exception in the English sources opened for this edition is Volant. Its October 19, 2026 release says Sichuan Airlines' low-altitude company will acquire 50 VE25-100 aircraft, of which 20 are firm orders. The release does not say whether the other 30 are options, intended orders or firm. That row is marked partly firm. The aircraft does not yet have a type certificate, which the same release says is still in progress.

Sources