During GAMA's Annual Industry Review and Market Outlook ...

... the focus is on policies that can help revitalize general aviation. At the annual Washington briefing, General Aviation Manufacturers Association president Pete Bunce expressed GAMA’s continued support for air traffic control modernization through coordinated government/industry development of NextGen and the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) initiative.  “The FAA made important progress in the implementation of NextGen in 2009 with initial deployment of the ground infrastructure and the publication of technical standard orders (TSOs) for Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B),” explains Bunce.  A key next step, he says, is an acceleration to equip aircraft with the avionics needed to utilize new satellite-based technologies. Adds Bunce, “As we work our way out of this severe recession, pro-growth, pro-manufacturing measures and policies, such as bonus depreciation and improving credit availability, will be crucial to allow our industry to bring back lost jobs.  The right policies will have a profound impact on the success of thousands of companies and communities that rely on general aviation through the more than one million jobs that our industry supports.” The GAMA numbers: 2009 VERSUS 2008 SHIPMENTS OF AIRPLANES MANUFACTURED WORLDWIDE   2008 2009 CHANGE Pistons 2,119 965 -54.5% Turboprops 535 441 -17.6% Business Jets 1,313 870 -33.7% Total Shipments 3,967 2,276 -42.6% Total Billings $24.8B $19.5B -21.4%   Meanwhile, Sparta, NJ-based Brian Foley Associates, an industry consultant, reports that its projections show GA “deliveries rising at a steady 2.7 percent per year (Compound Annual Growth Rate) between now and 2019,” says president Brian Foley. In all, some 8,900 business jets worth $170 billion will be delivered through the period. According to Foley, some 48 percent of these will go to non-North American markets, compared to a historical 30 percent -- a major shift. The consulting firm also offers projections on fuel usage. According to Foley’s data, some 1.6 billion gallons of jet-A were used by business jets in 2009, reflecting the drop in flying hours caused by economic factors. Foley forecasts 21 billion gallons to be consumed through the coming decade, with the annual average reaching 2.5 billion gallons in 2019 – a 57 percent increase.” * * * A final note … The National Air Transportation Association recently announced that Gary Driggers, a long-time executive at Midcoast Aviation, is this year's recipient for the William A. "Bill" Ong Memorial Award, the association’s highest honor. Driggers, a former NATA chair, recently retired from Midcoast Aviation after 22 years of service. He got into the business after serving as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. The list of Ong award recipients reads like a historical ‘Who’s Who’ of fixed based operators. The addition of Gary Driggers complements that list well. Congratulations to a long-time industry friend. Thanks for reading. jfi