The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) released its third-quarter shipment and billings report, showing good news for business aviation OEMs that already have record backlogs. As the industry adapts to a market where for the first time, more aircraft orders come from outside the U.S. than within, airframers delivered 2,909 piston and turbine aircraft in the first nine months of the year, 1.7 percent more than the 2,857 deliveries in the same period last year, while industry billings rose to $15.1 billion for an increase of 14.1 percent. “If we have another great quarter in the fourth quarter, we are going to have record sales from a monetary standpoint,” said Pete Bunce, GAMA’s president. “We’re watching each one of the different segments and we’re encouraged that when you take it in total everything is positive.”
The overall industry increase came in spite of a slump in piston-powered aircraft, deliveries of which dipped by 6 percent compared with the same period last year. Some industry analysts blame the decrease on the nascent VLJ industry, which could have prospective customers of high-end pistons rethinking their purchase plans.
The surging business jet category saw a jump of more than 20 percent in shipments. (All told, in the first three quarters of this year OEMs shipped 759 jets–including VLJs–versus 628 in the same time frame last year.)
