The General Aviation Manufacturers Association’s (GAMA) annual “State of the Industry” event was held February 19, 2014 in Washington, DC. I attended via webcast. GAMA Chairman Steve Taylor, President of Boeing Business Jets, along with GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce, announced the 2013 year-end shipment and billing figures and highlights of recent GAMA activities. Steve Taylor reports overall the news is positive although not as strong as previous times.
GAMA collects and reports on new aircraft shipments and billings in five categories; piston engine aircraft; turbo prop aircraft; business aircraft; piston helicopter and turbine helicopter. A few of the 2013 results reported were:
Piston engine aircraft shipments up 2.7 percent and turbo prop shipments up 10.4 percent. Business jet shipments remained fairly flat up almost 1 percent. Shipments of light and medium jets contracted the past couple years but large cabin jet shipments improved.
For the second year GAMA captured numbers from some helicopter manufacturers with shipment numbers indicating positive results.
Overall these results point to modest growth for shipment of new general aviation airplanes and helicopters. Cautious optimism is how Pete Bunce put it. You can read more on the GAMA shipments and billing report by visiting http://www.gama.aero/ or read the GAMA press release here on www.aviationpros.com.
