Story ID: 
GAMA: 3Q Bizjet Deliveries, Billings Down
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: While business jets and helicopters saw declines, the turboprop market was in the black for the first three quarters of the year.
Word Count: 933
Business jet deliveries and total airplane billings fell year-over-year for the first three quarters of this year, according to statistics released last month by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA). OEMs handed over 429 new business jets in the first three quarters, compared with 465 in the first nine months of last year, a slide of 7.7 percent. At the same time, industry billings shrank by more than $2 billion, 14 percent off last year’s third-quarter tally of $15.7 billion.

“There’s no way to sugarcoat the fact that these numbers are not what we had wanted to see,” said GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce. “Unfortunately, they reflect the instability of the used aircraft market coupled with complicating global economic and geopolitical factors.”

Among business jet manufacturers, Cessna provided the lone bright spot, posting a year-over-year improvement in deliveries of 13 percent, buoyed by the ramp up of deliveries of the new midsize Latitude to 24 in the first nine months of this year from four through the same period last year, even as it cut Sovereign deliveries by half.

Embraer was off last year’s pace by one aircraft, delivering 74 in the first nine months of the year. While the Brazilian OEM handed over nine fewer Phenom 300s in the first three quarters of this year, the midsize Legacy 450 helped close the deficit, as did the handover of four more Legacy 500s than were delivered in the first nine months of 2015.

Dassault, which no longer specifies numbers for specific models, saw deliveries slide by 17 percent year-over-year, while Bombardier deliveries fell by one-fifth. The Canadian manufacturer saw erosion in delivery totals across most of its line, the exception being the Challenger 605/650, the newer version of which received certification a year ago.

Gulfstream deliveries were off by a quarter from the previous year, slipping to 88 in the first nine months of this year from 116 in the same period last year. The Savannah-based airframer handed over 21 fewer large-cabin jets in the first three quarters this year than it did in the same period last year.

In the bizliner segment, Boeing deliveries year-over-year were down by 75 percent; the company handed over a BBJ and a private 777-300ER during the first three quarters of this year. Airbus did not deliver any ACJs during the first nine months.

Honda, which received certification for the HondaJet at the end of last year, delivered 16 copies of the aircraft in the first nine months.
​Rebound among Turboprops
While jet deliveries continue to spiral, the high-end turboprop sector saw some improvement year-over-year. OEMs delivered 187 pressurized turboprops in the first three quarters, compared with 181 in the same period last year, a gain of 3.3 percent, outpacing the overall turboprop market (which was up by 1.3 percent).

Pilatus led the segment, logging 57 percent more PC-12 deliveries year over year. The manufacturer said last month that it is on track to deliver 90 PC-12 NGs this year, 22 percent better than last year’s performance. The Swiss airframer was the only OEM in the pressurized turboprop market to show a gain.

While Textron’s Beechcraft delivered the same number of King Air 350s as last year, it handed over three fewer of both the C90GTx and 250, a 7-percent slide. Daher posted an 11-percent decline, delivering four fewer TBMs, and Piper handed over five fewer turboprops for a 22-percent drop year-over-year. Piaggio, which announced a five-aircraft order for the Avanti Evo at the NBAA Convention last month, the first for the airplane in the U.S. market, delivered just one of the twin turboprops in the first nine months of this year, no change from the same period last year.
​Rotorcraft Deliveries Stumble
Given the persisting trough in oil prices, the rough times for the rotorcraft market continue, with deliveries of turbine-powered helicopters down 16 percent between the first nine months of 2016 and 2015. Airbus Helicopters (which adopted the practice of combining its commercial and military helicopter delivery numbers earlier this year), saw a 9-percent climb over the adjusted numbers from the first three quarters of last year, while recently renamed Leonardo Helicopters (formerly AgustaWestland), which also now no longer separates its commercial and military deliveries, eked out a gain of 1 percent over its adjusted third-quarter 2015 deliveries.

Michigan-based Enstrom more than doubled output of the 480B, to seven in the first nine months of 2016.

Textron subsidiary Bell Helicopter saw declines across the entire product range, with overall deliveries off by 43 year-over-year. The 407 series experienced a 7-percent slump. Robinson Helicopter cut deliveries of the R66 by half, handing over 47 of the aircraft in the first three quarters of the year, compared with 94 a year ago. Sikorsky saw commercial helicopter deliveries fall to just eight in the first nine months this year from 29 in the same period last year.

“Now that the U.S. elections are behind us, we look forward to working with the incoming administration and the new Congress, as well as their counterparts across the globe, to highlight the importance of a vibrant general and business aviation industry with manufacturing, maintenance and overhaul jobs at its core,” Bunce said, noting a degree of industry optimism with all the new product development projects under way. “We also welcome a focus on making critical infrastructure investments, particularly airports and heliports, to support a safe and growing global aviation system. We stand ready to work with elected and appointed officials on policies that facilitate certification reform and product innovation, and improve the validation and acceptance of products worldwide.”