GAMA: General Aviation Market Up and Down in Q1

Business jet deliveries rose by nearly 15% year over year (YOY) in the first quarter, to 162 units, while airplane billings rose by $1 billion to $6.1 billion—a 19% increase—according to the just-released first-quarter 2026 delivery report from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA).

Nearly all of the major business jet manufacturers saw improvement from the first quarter of 2025. Among the top five airframers in the segment, Embraer saw the largest growth for the first three months of the year; the Brazil-based manufacturer’s effort to level out its yearly production operations continues to bear fruit. The company handed over six more midsize Praetor 500s in the quarter than it did a year ago, which contributed to a 26% increase in deliveries.

Textron Aviation also improved by six aircraft from the first quarter of 2025, led by deliveries of five more Citation Longitudes this year, equating to a nearly 20% rise.

Gulfstream increased its first-quarter 2025 total by two aircraft (one super-mid and one large-cabin) in the same span this year for a total of 38 deliveries, while Bombardier added one to its first-quarter 2025 total of 23 handed over in the same span this year.

Dassault only reports its Falcon deliveries at mid-year and year-end.

Among the dedicated light jet manufacturers, Pilatus nearly doubled PC-24 output YOY, with nine deliveries in first-quarter 2026, while Cirrus added two more Vision Jets to its tally this year, shipping 21 of the single-engine jets.

Honda Aircraft was one off the mark from a year ago with three HondaJet deliveries in the first three months of the year.

In the bizliner segment, Airbus had a lone delivery of an ACJ320 in the first quarter this year, after none a year ago. Boeing had no BBJ deliveries in the first quarter of either year.

Most Turboprops Climb

While the overall turboprop segment saw a more than 3% dip from a year ago, deliveries of higher-end business aviation models increased by more than 10%.

Pilatus delivered 15 single-engine PC-12s in the first quarter of the year, up more than 36% from a year ago.

With nine deliveries of the TBM 980, the latest iteration of its TBM family, along with two additional Kodiaks, Daher improved on the first-quarter 2025 delivery total by one airplane. Epic Aircraft handed over one more E1000 than it did a year ago, for a total of seven in the quarter. Between its M500, M600, and M700 models, Piper also increased turboprop deliveries by one YOY.

Textron Aviation remained static with 29 turboprop deliveries in the first three months of both years. The Wichita-based OEM increased production of King Airs by six units, which offset the decrease in the number of Caravans and Grand Caravans it handed over.

Piston-engined aircraft improved by 6.4% YOY to 381 deliveries.

Rotorcraft Meet Turbulence

On the rotorcraft side, however, there was erosion, with turbine helicopter deliveries down 9% in the first three months of the year compared to the same period in 2025. Piston helicopters fared even worse, off by 13% from first-quarter 2025.

Airbus Helicopters bucked the trend, improving on its delivery total by more than 16% in first-quarter 2026. Keying that rise was the H145, which soared from 14 deliveries in the first quarter of last year to 26 through the first three months of 2026.

Leonardo saw a two-unit increase YOY, which put it at a 7.4% improvement over its 2025 first-quarter deliveries of 27 helicopters.

On the downside was Bell, which was off by nine deliveries through the first three months of the year, a 31% decline. It had six fewer deliveries of the 407GXi and did not hand over any 412EPX twins this year, after delivering three in the first quarter of 2025.

Robinson Helicopter saw deliveries of its turbine-powered R66 slide by nearly 43% YOY. The Torrance, California-based airframer handed over 12 fewer of the single-engine helicopters than it did a year ago.

Sikorsky had no deliveries in the first three months of 2026, after handing over one S-92 during the same span last year.

Enstrom Helicopter is gearing up to resume deliveries of new aircraft for the first time since it emerged from bankruptcy in 2022.

“The demand for new general aviation aircraft remains steady, and manufacturers are navigating challenges to bring them to market,” GAMA president and CEO James Viola told AIN. “As general aviation manufacturers continue to advance safety and innovative technologies, it is imperative that regulators and authorities have the resources and policies needed to further the certification and validation process of these exciting developments.”