There were fewer piston and turboprop airplanes delivered around the world in 2015 while business jet deliveries increased slightly.
That’s according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association’s 2015 Shipment Report, released Wednesday.
The report said shipments of piston and turboprop airplanes were down 6.5 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively, while business jets were up 1.6 percent – largely pushed higher by more light to midsize business jet deliveries.
“I think it’s just further affirmation that our industry is very tied to economic conditions both in the U.S. and around the world,” GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce told The Eagle.
“You look at that, with the overall economy, and what has happened with the cost of oil and the value of the dollar, and you end up in a situation with some segments up, some segments down.”
The GAMA report said 2015 shipments of piston airplanes totaled 1,056 compared with 1,129 in 2014. Turboprop shipments came in at 557, down from 603 in 2014.
Business jet shipments, however, totaled 654 in 2015. That was up 10 jets from the 644 manufacturers delivered in 2014.
GAMA officials cautioned that not all the business jet numbers are in. GAMA is still awaiting information from Bombardier Business Aircraft, whose parent company Bombardier Inc. won’t report its aircraft delivery totals until it releases its 2015 earnings next week.
GAMA Chairman Aaron Hilkemann said during a news conference Wednesday in Washington, that to make the year-over-year business jet comparison, GAMA omitted Bombardier’s business jet shipments from the 2014 total.
The business jet numbers so far, Bunce said, reflect a market that’s favoring the size of business aircraft manufactured by Bombardier Learjet and Textron Aviation.
“Large cabin, long-range (jets) are down, but there was a pick up in the light to midsize segments, he said.
The slump in large business jet deliveries in 2015 shows that “energy dollars really matter, emerging countries like the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries really matter.”
The report shows that it was a decent year for Textron Aviation in terms of shipments, with only one of three aircraft categories down between 2014 and 2015.
The report said Textron Aviation delivered 312 Beechcraft and Cessna piston aircraft in 2015 compared with 292 in 2014, and 166 Citation jets compared with 159 in the same period.
Shipments of Beechcraft and Cessna turboprops, however, were down slightly: 219 deliveries in 2015 compared with 221 in 2014.
For the first three quarters of 2015, Bombardier delivered 21 Wichita-built Learjet 70s and 75s, up from 15 in the same period in 2014.
Bunce said it’s not clear how general aviation aircraft shipments will do this year.
“We look at the forecasts that are out there,” he said. “It’s a stable market. It’s a mature market.
BY JERRY SIEBENMARK
Back to other news
