Wither the new turboprop market, or the pause that refreshes? Historically, new business turboprop sales remain relatively steady while jet sales gyrate up or down. So far, this year is a little different. While new business jet deliveries have climbed more than 12 percent for the first six months of 2019, turboprop deliveries dropped 11.2 percent for 1H 2019 compared to the year-ago period, according to data from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA). It is notable that a big chunk of jet sale gains were models that challenge traditional turboprop territory, such as the new Cirrus SF50 single-engine jet or the revised HondaJet Elite light twin.
Amid the decline in turboprop deliveries, certain turboprop models are faring even worse. Piper delivered just 14 turboprop singles in this year's first half compared with 23 in the year-ago period, while Textron Aviation pushed almost 50 percent fewer King Air 350s—it’s top turboprop model—out the door compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, the used turboprop market is essentially flat from the year-ago period, with just a three-aircraft gain to available inventory and days on market inching up by two, to a little more than 10 months. Residual values for popular models, such as the Pilatus PC-12, remain strong.
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