Bizav Industry Billings Reach New Heights as Jets Surge

The business and general aviation industry set a new mark in 2025 with combined aircraft and helicopter billings jumping by 17% to a record $36.5 billion as shipments collectively topped 4,200 units, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association reported during its annual State of the Industry review in Washington, D.C.

Unveiling the report on February 18, GAMA chairman and Textron Aviation president and CEO Ron Draper added that for the third year in a row, the industry has now exceeded 4,000 aircraft delivered.

However, the results were not uniform, with growth in the business jet and piston sector offsetting a slide in helicopter and turboprop deliveries. And despite the surging billings, the industry still faces challenges from the workforce to supply chain and certification.

“The state of the general aviation manufacturing industry remains steadfast. We continue to see robust numbers of total aircraft delivered, as well as annual billings eclipsing $35 billion, the highest it has ever been,” GAMA president and CEO James Viola said. “While some segments are seeing marginal declines in deliveries, they are all still above 2019 levels. As manufacturers work hard to meet the challenges and demands of today, they remain focused on advancing safety and innovation for the future of the entire aviation industry.”

The airplane side fared better with shipments up by 2.2% overall year over year (YOY) to 3,230. Billings soared to $31 billion, a 16.1% leap over the $26.7 billion reported in 2024.

The business jet segment drove these increases, with deliveries up by 11.8% to 854 and marking the highest number of units delivered since 2009. Business jet shipments alone accounted for $27.2 billion of the billings, an increase of 18.2% from 2024.

The North American market continues to lead the globe in deliveries, representing 65% of the market. But Latin America moved into the third-largest share at 11%, a jump from coming in as the smallest market in 2024 with 5%.

Billings surged as Gulfstream spooled up on G700 deliveries and began G800 shipments. The Savannah, Georgia, manufacturer reported a 17% jump in revenues, bolstered by an 18-unit increase in its large-cabin shipments. Bombardier also saw a 13-unit bump in its ultra-long-range Global lines, with its revenues up by 10%.

Likewise, Textron Aviation, ironing out supply-chain issues, saw its deliveries and revenues increase by 20 units and 13%, respectively. Dassault also saw business jet deliveries increase from 31 in 2024 to 37 last year as revenues climbed to $2.1 billion, up from $1.7 billion a year earlier. And Embraer finished 2025 with its highest tally of business jet deliveries in 15 years at 155, exceeding 2024’s total by 25 deliveries

Piston aircraft deliveries also edged by 0.6%, or 10 units, to 1,782 last year. Billings, however, jumped by 9.1% to $1.4 billion, marking the highest total yet.

But turboprop deliveries declined by 5.1% YOY, or down 32 units to 594. At the same time, billings matched last year’s total at $2.4 billion. Geographically, North America remained the dominant market with a 58% share. Latin America followed at 17%.

Draper told the audience at GAMA’s event that feedback from the manufacturers had been that demand remains high, but deliveries were a challenge in 2024. As an example, Europe-based Pilatus faced trade tariff headwinds that led to a pause in U.S. shipments. The Swiss manufacturer saw PC-12 deliveries fall off by 14 units. France's Daher also faced a decline in its turboprop shipments, from 82 in 2024 to 76 this past year. However, Textron Aviation reported a 19-unit increase in its turboprop deliveries at the same time.

Helicopter shipments were uniformly down, with piston dipping by 1.9% to 206 and turbine deliveries by 3.3% to 798 units, respectively. This brought overall helicopter deliveries down by 3% to 1,004.  Even so, billings increased by 5.5% to $4.7 billion.

Piston helicopter shipments dipped by four units from 2024, and billings declined 1.1%, while turbine shipments were off 14 units with the preliminary value increasing 5.7% to $4.6 billion.

Robinson Helicopters saw both piston and turbine deliveries fall by a combined almost 40 units to 256. However, Airbus Helicopters reported a buoyant 2025 with 373 deliveries, up from 349 a year earlier. Bell experienced a three-unit bump, while Leonardo deliveries were down by four.

As general aviation rides what has become a multiyear surge in demand, the sector’s ability to sustain that momentum depends on solving two persistent problems: a shrinking skilled workforce and a supply chain that remains more fragile than anyone would like. The GAMA State of the Industry event hosted a panel where top executives weighed in on these issues.

“The industry feels very healthy,” Draper said, noting that strong sales and healthy backlogs are the norm across OEMs. “There’s a lot of customers turning to our types of products for different needs in their businesses.”

Nicolas Chabbert, CEO of Daher Aircraft, echoed that sentiment, adding that the market is “reacting extremely well” to new products and that billings continue to set records.

The economic stakes are considerable. In the U.S., general aviation supports $339 billion in total economic output and 1.3 million jobs, according to GAMA. In Europe, business aviation contributes €100 billion in economic impact and 449,000 jobs. Viola also highlighted a significant recent policy win: in November, EU finance ministers failed to reach an agreement on an energy tax directive that would have imposed a 40-cent-per-liter tax on jet fuel used by general and business aviation aircraft. “This is an important win,” Viola said, while cautioning that the industry must continue monitoring evolving EU-level and country-specific tax schemes for similar threats.

A Strong Market, but Not Without Limits

Despite the positive headlines, supply-chain stress remains a daily operational reality. Chabbert was blunt about the situation at Daher: “We find ourselves spending a great deal of time every day to push and get our stuff so we can deliver on time—and even then, we’re missing a few deliveries.” He described a compounding series of post-Covid disruptions: first labor shortages, then raw material crises, and now new categories of supply constraints arriving before previous ones are fully resolved. Adding to the difficulty, he noted, is an inflationary dynamic in which costs are rising without commensurate gains in supplier performance.

Phil Straub, executive vice president and managing director of Garmin’s aviation division, said demand on the avionics and aftermarket side is “robust,” with customers eager to invest in safety and efficiency technologies. However, that demand is running up against capacity constraints. “At the lower end, [we’re] probably three months booked out,” Straub said, “but some of the higher end can be close to a year.” He cited broadband installations as one specific factor affecting capacity.

Draper framed the supply-chain challenge as inseparable from the workforce problem. When manufacturers trace supply disruptions back to their root causes, he said, “sometimes it’s a technical problem, but often it comes down to a workforce or labor problem—where facilities consolidated, folks retired, and now they have new folks they’re trying to train and the yield isn’t as good.” GAMA’s Aerospace Supply Chain Task Force released recommendations at the end of 2024 aimed at supporting stability and long-term competitiveness, but structural fixes will take time.

Racing against Demographics

The workforce challenge runs deeper than near-term hiring gaps. Across North America and Europe, demographic trends are working against the industry. Skilled tradespeople—machinists, electricians, A&P mechanics—are retiring faster than they can be replaced, and the pipeline of qualified candidates has not kept pace with demand. “In many of those supply-chain companies, that workforce is aging and retiring,” Draper said. “It takes highly skilled and talented people to build these machines, and it takes sometimes years to really learn a craft or a trade.”

OEMs are responding with a variety of programs aimed at reaching potential workers earlier in their education. Textron Aviation has built one of the more comprehensive pipelines: the company brings in 160 to 170 high school interns annually, paying them for six weeks of hands-on exposure to various job functions. It also targets military veterans and recently opened a $40 million career training center—a simulated factory environment where workers with no prior experience can spend 10 or more weeks learning their specific job classification before setting foot on the production floor.

Airbus Helicopters in North America has taken a similar approach through a program called Flight Path 9, developed originally within the company’s commercial division and now extended to high schoolers and recent graduates. “We’re partnering with the local university for those basic manufacturing skills—measurements, sheet metal, wire harness building, all those technical skills,” said Teri Short, vice president of flight operations and engineering for Airbus Helicopters in North America.

Students who complete the course and pass the required testing are guaranteed a position in the company’s apprenticeship program. Short added that Airbus is also targeting middle schoolers with STEM outreach, with a particular emphasis on drawing more women into the field.

At Daher, Chabbert pointed to the company’s apprenticeship program as its single most effective recruiting tool. Apprentices now account for roughly 12% of the company’s workforce, and more than 80% of those hires stay with the company long-term—a retention rate Chabbert called the “best source of hiring” available. Daher also runs an international internship exchange program, bringing American students to France and European students to U.S. facilities. Chabbert made a direct appeal to the journalists in the room to help amplify the message: “This industry is very diversified—you can find almost a job for any skills or ambition, and this is a high-paid kind of industry. Anything that can relay the message is important.”

Straub noted that Garmin is involved with the Women of Aviation Worldwide Week, offering flights to roughly 40 to 50 young women annually and providing flight training incentive programs. “I think for people that want to go into this industry—whether you’re an engineer, pilot, or technician—there’s a lot of opportunity," he said. “We’re working with the latest and newest technology, and I think it’s a good career.”

Certification Reforms

Meanwhile, industry leaders are encouraged by momentum to improve the certification process at the FAA, but continue to press for long-needed changes to bureaucracies that they believe slow the introduction of safety-enhancing technologies. At the same time, they see a need to rebalance validation efforts that may have gotten out of sync internationally—an issue they believe was highlighted by the recent White House statement that threatened to pull the certifications from Bombardier if Canada did not move on long-pending Gulfstream approvals.

Viola pointed to a Mitre study that was mandated by Congress on the future state of the type certification process for the FAA. The study identified paths to leverage safety oversight and stakeholder accountability, along with the use of tools such as digitization and modeling techniques. That study also pushed for more of a risk-based approach than the one currently employed by the FAA.

“We are pleased that the FAA is reviewing these ideas as well as looking into how to introduce safety improvements and correct actions in the certification process and evaluating best practices and tools utilized by other authorities,” Viola reported.

He also pointed to bills jointly introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate targeting refinements to improve transparency and set guideposts for the agencies, as well as a reorganization at the FAA that elevated certification to directly under the purview of FAA Deputy Administrator Chris Rocheleau.

However, Viola added, “the challenges are still there…the pain level is still there. We continue to try to work through it.” He cited as an example that during a recent meeting, FAA officials maintained their employees want to work remotely. “My response was to send them to the manufacturers if they want to work remotely,” he said. “So yes, there’s still a lot of distraction going on.”

But not all of these distractions are on the shoulders of the FAA, Viola added, pointing to the 40-day shutdown and the difficulties of keeping a workforce motivated in the face of that.

Draper praised the FAA for working to make improvements. “They are in the office. They are hiring. They’re trying to train people,” Draper said. “We see progress, and so I would give them a pat on the back because they’ve experienced turnover and leadership [changes], and different obstacles.”

But having said that, “I would challenge them that there’s a lot of improvements that could be made, and I think they know that as well,” Draper continued.

As far as working with the international community, Viola noted that GAMA “has been advocating for a continued focus among all regulators to improve the validation process, and we believe there are some ideas that would help move this forward.”

When asked about the recent White House threat to revoke Bombardier’s certificates as certain Gulfstream validations remain pending in Canada, the leaders who participated during the GAMA event did not address the Canadian manufacturer specifically. Rather, Textron Aviation's Draper said, “Even though the [national aviation authorities] have agreements that they’ll recognize each other's certifications, there’s friction there, between our certification agencies. And I think it just highlighted that that’s a problem.”

He continued that these issues have always been evident in aviation. “At times, it needs to be worked on, and we need alignment between these regulations.”

The industry works closely with the regulatory agencies to work on harmonization. “The regulators meet, and they come up with bilateral agreements," Viola agreed. "Occasionally, if it’s not being tracked properly, things get out of balance, and it was an opportunity, I think, to rebalance some of the things that are going on.”

Draper added that as a manufacturer, “We don’t design and build it just for the United States or Brazil or Europe. It’s going to meet the certification standards of all those agencies. And then once we do, how do we get all those agencies to recognize it?”

Draper further said that this is an ongoing issue that the industry frequently discusses with agencies. “As an industry, how can we help solve that problem?” He further agreed that the White House statement highlighted a certification issue. “There may be good reasons for that. There may just be workload or resources or whatever. So I think we just need to have a perspective.”

Viola also stressed the importance of harmonized standards. “We shouldn’t have to make airplanes different for different countries. We should be able to produce a standard aircraft that could be sold everywhere, and it’s got to be flown everywhere. Our goal is how do we work together and cooperate on that.”

Environmental Goals Hold Firm

Despite a shifting regulatory environment in Washington, industry leaders said their environmental commitments remain unchanged. “We haven’t backed off our goals,” Draper said. “Our footprint is already very small, and our goal is to get it smaller, or eventually eliminate it if possible.”

Viola noted that efficiency improvements have been a constant driver for the industry regardless of the policy backdrop, and that sustainable aviation fuel remains a critical lever for meeting the industry’s 2050 environmental goals.

Chabbert cautioned against expecting transformation overnight, stressing that aviation moves through incremental steps and is meeting its goals one by one. He also highlighted an often-overlooked contributor to emissions reduction: air traffic management. Greater ATC efficiency, he argued, could account for roughly 20% of the sector’s CO2 reductions, making it a systemic opportunity that extends well beyond engine design or fuel type.

AAM Moves from Strategy to Action

Advanced air mobility continued to generate enthusiasm at the briefing, with several concrete policy and program developments to report. In December, the AAM interagency working group established by Congress—through legislation championed by GAMA—released a national strategy and comprehensive plan focused on integrating new AAM technologies into the National Airspace System.  The U.S. Department of Transportation has also formed an eVTOL Integrated Pilot Program, a public-private partnership designed to gather real-world operational data and demonstrate the viability of AAM platforms. Several GAMA members have already applied to participate alongside local community sponsors.

On the operational side, Airbus Helicopters offered one of the more concrete examples of autonomous aviation technology advancing from concept to hardware. Short described the company’s MQ-72C, a fully autonomous logistics connector being developed for the U.S. Marine Corps. Now in its second year of a rapid development program, the aircraft has already completed fully autonomous flights.

“We’re really excited about bringing that capability to the space with the military, validating our design,” Short said, adding that the platform is seen as a foundation for broader commercial and logistics applications as AAM technology matures.

The FAA has also restructured to better address the coming wave of new aviation technologies. Three weeks before the GAMA briefing, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the FAA unveiled a reorganization that includes a new Advanced Aviation Technologies office, an aerospace modernization office to oversee ATC system upgrades, and a new safety oversight office to implement a unified safety management system. Viola called the changes promising, expressing hope that “these strategically focused changes bring efficiencies and stabilization to the agency.”

Looking ahead, the industry’s leaders appear clear-eyed about what sustained growth will require: replenishing the skilled workforce, shoring up supply chains that have proven more brittle than expected, and laying the infrastructure—both regulatory and physical—to welcome a new generation of aircraft into the national airspace.