Story ID: 641
Garmin Continues Upgrade Programs, Expands Campus
By: J.E. Burnside
Caption: When new aircraft sales are relatively flat, growth comes from upgrades.
Word Count: 359

As year-over-year numbers for new business aircraft sales remain relatively flat, companies supplying components to those factories and wanting continued growth must look for other opportunities. Some companies cracked that secret code long ago and have developed comprehensive upgrade paths for in-service aircraft.

Perhaps no company has done it as well as Garmin International, which has designed, certified and brought to market industry-leading products to upgrade aircraft in almost all categories and classes. In early October Garmin announced its 500th G1000 integrated flight deck upgrade for various models of the venerable Beech King Air line. For more than a decade, according to the company, Garmin's G1000 has been used to modernized King Air cockpits, providing operators with enhanced operational benefits and increased aircraft utility, along with significant weight savings and reduced cost of operation.

Earlier this year, the company began delivering the latest-version G1000NXi for King Air upgrades, and Garmin said in October that the NXi will also be used to upgrade Cessna's Citation Mustang, beginning late next year. That platform will incorporate wireless cockpit connectivity, split-screen capability, Garmin's trademarked SurfaceWatch runway monitoring technology, visual approaches and a map overlay on the horizontal situation indicator. And while the G1000 upgrade market will expand, Garmin already can chalk up almost 30 BeechJet 400A/400XP aircraft now sporting a G5000.

Retrofits and upgrades aren't the only markets Garmin is addressing. Its GHD 2100 head-up display is being tested aboard Cessna's forthcoming Citation Longitude, as a component of its G5000 flight deck. The company also said it will offer new pricing for its datalink weather, text and voice packages using the GSR 56 satellite transceiver, and announced the GWX 80, a new Doppler-based weather radar system for business, commercial and military aircraft.

With all of this ongoing, Garmin apparently expects its upgrade and forward-fit programs will continue. The company has embarked on a $200 million expansion project, which will add some 750,000 sq ft on its 96-acre campus, for a total of 2.1 million sq ft, significantly expanding its aviation-industry manufacturing and distribution. The company expects construction to be completed by late 2020.

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