The TBM family of aircraft led the results with 56 TBM 960s and 910s delivered, and the Kodiak 100 and 900 utility models accounted for 18 deliveries. The numbers mark a level state overall from 2022 for the OEM, echoing the challenges still presented in the global aerospace industry revolving around both supply chain and maintaing a steady workforce.

• READ MORE: We Fly: Kodiak 900

“These figures reflect the market’s stabilization as we continue to see a strong demand for TBM and Kodiak aircraft, although challenges persist in affecting our industry—including employment and supply chain issues,” said Nicolas Chabbert, senior vice president of Daher’s aircraft division. “There have been efforts made to address these difficulties and improve the situation. We are seeing the results of our solutions in the employment field through internal training and the attraction of new talent. For the supply chain, the importance of delivering on time will enable us to continue seeking opportunities in a strong market.”

• READ MORE: Daher Celebrates Milestone TBM Deliveries, Kodiak Success

Daher said most of the TBMs delivered during 2023 were top-of-the-line TBM 960s, with the largest percentage going to the North American market. Among those deliveries, 43 went to the U.S. and two to Canada. The remainder of deliveries included seven in Europe, three in Latin America, and one in Asia.

Most of the 18 Kodiak aircraft delivered last year were sent to a range of private owners and “multimission operators” in North America, with the North Carolina Forest Service’s aviation division among the company’s new customers. Deliveries included the Kodiak 100 Series III, which now has a five-blade Hartzell composite propeller as standard equipment, and the larger, faster Kodiak 900, which Daher introduced in 2022.   

• WATCH: We Fly: Kodiak 100 in Training

A total of 1,187 TBMs and 339 Kodiaks had been delivered worldwide through the end of 2023, and the global fleet has logged nearly 3 million flight hours. The aircraft are supported under Daher’s newly consolidated network called TBM & Kodiak Care.

The post Daher Delivers 74 Aircraft During 2023, Reports Orders for 100 More appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Total billings are on track to surpass 2022 as well, with $14.478 billion in airplane billings through the third quarter, and $2.695 billion in helicopter billings thus far. Totals through Q3 2022 were $14.117 billion and $2.557 billion, respectively.

• READ MORE: Aircraft Deliveries Up in Q3 Across All Segments

Positive upticks in each segment point to the resilience of the OEMs involved, in spite of lingering supply chain and workforce issues, and the compounding global instability wrought by conflict in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. With the recent appointment of a permanent FAA administrator, the industry looks to achieve better results in aircraft certification and other processes requiring agency collaboration and approval.

“General aviation is the planet’s aerospace technology incubator that drives safety and sustainability benefits to our transportation systems and economies,” said Pete Bunce, GAMA president and CEO, in a statement. “We are laser focused on safety, technology, and sustainability initiatives to maintain and expand our industry’s steadfast growth into the future. To achieve this, it is imperative that there is stability within our industry’s regulatory bodies, and having a new permanent leader at the top of the FAA is a great start. It is also essential that Congress act now to pass an FAA reauthorization bill that provides the new administrator and agency with the necessary direction and tools to strengthen and enhance the aviation system.”

Piston, Turboprop Market Strength

Drivers in the change clearly come from the lighter end of the GA space, with the increase in piston and turboprop shipments for the nine-month period coming in at 11.9 and 14.6 percent, respectively. The major piston OEMs—including Cirrus, Diamond, Piper, Tecnam, and Textron Aviation—are all on track with higher overall deliveries through the third quarter over 2022 totals, with Cirrus marking the largest gains.

On the turboprop side, Epic is still working to improve its production rate, matching last year’s year-to-date Q3 numbers with 10 deliveries thus far. Pilatus has seen the largest gain with 66 units through Q3 versus 47 over the same period, though Daher, Piper, and Textron Aviation have also posted higher numbers against 2022.

Jets Hang On

With a modest increase of 2 percent, the business jet segment has held its own, but marginally. Delays in the certification of the Dassault Falcon 6X, which finally crossed the finish line over the summer, and the Gulfstream G700—which still has not yet secured its FAA TC—provide some clues. Honda Aircraft Company has also come in below last year’s rate, with 12 delivered through Q3 as opposed to 13 through the same period last year of the HA-420. However, Embraer has pushed ahead, with 66 deliveries on the books of the Phenom 100 and 300 series, and Praetor 500/600s.

Nine-Month Aircraft Shipment and Billing (Q1 through Q3)

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The M-Class line includes the turbocharged and pressurized piston M350, the M500 turboprop, and the M600/SLS turboprop, which features the HALO safety system and Garmin Autoland. Piper said it delivered a total of 69 M-Class aircraft, 43 in the U.S. and 26 internationally. They included 19 M350s, 9 M500s, and 41 M600/SLSs. 

The Vero Beach, Florida company said deliveries in its trainer lineup, which includes the single-engine Archer family, the Pilot 100i and the twin-engine Seminole, totaled 167 aircraft. Among the trainers, Piper made 150 domestic deliveries and 17 to international customers.

• READ MORE: GAMA Reports Year-Over-Year Increase in Aircraft Shipments In a ‘Governed’ Recovery

The company attributed the increased deliveries to flight schools including ATP Flight School, Spartan College, and American Flyers enlarging their fleets. New customers joining its Piper Flight School Alliance program, including Thrust Flight and Fly Gateway, also boosted deliveries.

“Growth in our two primary aircraft markets is of paramount importance to Piper Aircraft,” said Piper president and CEO John Calcagno. “Despite the supply chain and labor challenges our industry faced this year, we were still able to deliver our aircraft as promised, create valuable enhancements across our product lineup, and pass these improvements to our Piper dealer partner network and retail customers.”

Other developments helping Piper’s business during the year included FAA approval of a Master Minimum Equipment List, or MMEL, making it easier to use the M600/SLS for Part 135 charter service. That model also received approval for operation from unpaved fields, which increases its flexibility. Last year Piper also announced its collaboration with CAE to develop a supplemental type certificate for an electric-powered PA-28-181 Archer.

The post Piper Reports 15 Percent Rise in Aircraft Deliveries appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The GAMA report demonstrated that the total aircraft deliveries increased across the board as compared to Q1 2021, with higher numbers in all segments. This was tempered by the fact that the total dollar value of billings came in just a bit lower than for the same period in 2021.

Turboprop deliveries led the way, with numbers up by 31 percent, at 110 units. Piston airplane shipments came in next, up 13.9 percent with 263 units, and turbine deliveries made a modest 4.4 percent increase and 118 units.

The rotor-wing segment also showed a rebound, with single-digit increases for both piston and turbine rotorcraft, at 6.5 percent and 98 units, and 8.3 percent and 39 units, respectively.

“It is reassuring to see aircraft deliveries continue to show strong progress as we emerge from impacts of the pandemic,” said GAMA’s president and CEO, Pete Bunce. “It is especially encouraging to see piston airplane deliveries continue their positive trajectory and exceed last year’s numbers as well as the first quarter numbers of 2020 and 2019. 

“This report shows increasing light airplane deliveries from a number of companies that have leveraged the new CS/Part 23 airworthiness standards for both new aircraft models and upgrades. The upward trajectory in light airplane segment is attributable to the regulatory reforms undertaken by several regulatory bodies that enable new technology and new aircraft and entrants.”

Toward A Global Standard for Certification?

The new rules drive toward an unprecedented level of global cooperation—if not a global standard—led by the coordination between the FAA and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). “We are optimistic that further implementation of these standards across global regulators will continue to advance safety while bringing new and exciting aircraft to the GA market,” said Bunce.

We expect more from each OEM on its position in concert with the National Business Aviation Association European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (NBAA-EBACE) next week, May 23 through 25, in Geneva, Switzerland.

First Quarter Aircraft Shipments and Billings

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“Our continued focus on operating performance and protecting the health and safety of our employees contributed to strong fourth-quarter and full-year results,” General Dynamics’ chairman and CEO Phebe Novakovic said in a statement. 

While the company’s net earnings of $952 million for the quarter was $50 million less than what it took in in 2020, for the full year, net earnings were $3.3 billion, on revenue of $38.5 billion, a total of more than $90 million in extra business. 

Company’s Jets in High Demand

In the aerospace segment, backlog grew in the quarter to $16.3 billion, up 40 percent from the same quarter in 2020. The company’s book-to-bill ratio was 1.7-to-1 for the quarter and 1.6-to-1 for the year, the company indicated.

A book-to-bill ratio is the ratio of orders received to units shipped and billed for a specified period, or orders divided by revenue, generally for a month or quarter. More broadly, it tells part of the story of a sector, as has been the case with overall airplane sales in late 2020 and all of 2021.

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Novakovic called the demand for airplanes “the most important story in the quarter for aerospace and frankly, for the company.”

Gulfstream delivered 39 large and midsized-cabin aircraft worth $2.5 billion in the fourth quarter. For the year, the company delivered 119 units for a total of $8.1 billion. 

Compared to the previous year’s fourth quarter, aerospace segment revenue improved by 5.1 percent to $2.5 billion. However, owing to a sinking operating margin in the same period, the aerospace segment took in just $350 million for the quarter, compared to $401 million in 2020.

For the full year, total aerospace revenues climbed to $8.1 billion, slightly less than 1 percent of its 2020 $8.07 billion. The company expects that to extend to $84 billion through 2022 and estimates that will come from 123 airplane deliveries.

However, overall earnings in that segment also were 4.8 percent less they achieved for 2020, taking $52 million dollars less.

The company also reported that it was awarded $100 million to produce gun systems for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, F-18 Hornet, and F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft programs by the U.S. military.

Other General Dynamic News

Across all of its businesses, General Dynamic said its total estimated contract value, the sum of all backlog components, was $127.5 billion.

“Favorable cash flow has enabled us to continue reducing debt, returning value to shareholders, and investing in future growth,” Novakovic said.

The company ended the year with $1.6 billion in cash.

Following the call, the share price climbed 2.8 percent to $210, but shrunk to $205 at the close.

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The business aviation industry continues its climb out from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a leading report released on Sunday.

Honeywell Aerospace reviewed its 30th annual Global Business Aviation Outlook on October 10, ahead of the National Business Aviation Association conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. The report projects 7,400 new jet deliveries totaling $238 billion over the next 10 years.

The totals reflect an increase of 1 percent over 2020 predictions.

The report is based in part on operator surveys conducted by Honeywell’s research team regarding plans for fleet renewal, projected utilization, and initial aircraft purchases.

The optimistic look towards aircraft acquisition is driven by the ongoing return to pre-pandemic levels of flying—operators surveyed expect flight hours in 2021 that will be 50 percent higher than those they tallied in 2020—with greater growth ahead for 2022.

New business jet deliveries in 2022 are expected to be up 10 percent, as few operators mentioned postponing their acquisition plans. In fact, 90 percent of survey respondents said the pandemic had not put off their deliveries of new or pre-owned jets.

“The increased demand for used jets is estimated at more than 6,500 units over the next five years, putting pressure on an already record low inventory and driving additional demand for new jets,” said Heath Patrick, president, Americas Aftermarket, Honeywell Aerospace.

“Our latest operator survey results support continued private jet usage growth, as more than 65 percent of respondents anticipate increased business jet usage in 2022,” said Patrick. “Despite the ongoing challenges presented by the pandemic, flight hours have recovered and grown beyond pre-pandemic levels.

Flying interviewed Javier Jimenez Serrano, who is the senior strategy analyst leading the research team behind Honeywell’s numbers, during a special preview.

“We’re still below the 10-year forecast [in deliveries from 2019] because of the delta variant,” said Serrano, but the company anticipates that the industry will be entirely back to 2019 numbers by mid-decade. Still, the operators surveyed have kept five-year plans a bit modest as a result of the delta variant’s lingering effects—though large changes were not in the cards.

“We interviewed over 1,500 operators, representing more than 14 percent of the global fleet,” said Serrano. “And they told us—90 percent of them told us—that they do not expect to make any changes or delay their purchase plans for new or used jets—that’s up from 80 percent last year. So we’re trending in the right direction here.”

What About Used Jets?

With charter operations leading the recovery, the pre-owned jet pool is expected to continue to decrease, said Serrano. Offsetting this will be the introduction of several new super midsize, large-cabin, and ultralong-range jets into the marketplace between 2022 and 2025—including the:

• Bombardier Global 3500
• Gulfstream G400, G700, and G800
• Dassault Falcon 6X and 10X

Planned purchases of used jets also remain strong, posting a 12-percent bump over 2020 figures—the equivalent of adding 800 more jets to corresponding business plans. “Operators worldwide indicated that 28 percent of their fleet is expected to be replaced or expanded by used jets over the next five years, up 3 percentage points compared with survey results from 2020,” the report said.

Regional Projections

By region, the 2021 report outlines the tempered resilience of the North American and Asia-Pacific markets.

Compared to 2020, plans over the next five years for acquisitions in the North America region are down by 3 percent as operators look ahead and face uncertainty driven by the delta variant.

New jet purchase plans in North America are down 3 percent in this year’s survey compared with last year. Over the next five years, at least 13 percent of the fleet is expected to be replaced or supplemented with a new jet purchase.

• Roughly 35 percent of responding operators plan to schedule their new purchases within the first two years of the five-year horizon. This is 3 percentage points higher than in last year’s survey, and above the worldwide average of 29 percent.
• Purchase plans for used jets are up 4 percent as compared to last year’s survey—and remain above historical averages.
• An estimated 63 percent of worldwide demand for new jets will come from the region during the next five years, down just 1 percentage point compared with the 2020 survey.

In Asia-Pacific, a similar picture emerges, with more plans for growth despite ongoing travel restrictions:

• Asia-Pacific operators have plans to replace at least 15 percent of their jet fleets over the next five years with new jet purchases, up from 14 percent in 2020′s survey.
• APAC operators also report fleet expansion intentions for the first time in three years, equating to 0.3 percent of the current fleet.
• Asia Pacific is projected to represent a 12-percent share of global new jet demand over the next five years.
• About 20 percent of respondents in APAC plan to schedule their new purchases within the first two years of the five-year horizon, compared with 30 percent just a year ago.

In Latin America, purchase plans have recovered to 2019 levels. Operators in Europe, however, continue to deal with cross-border restrictions and show a bit less optimism, with purchase plans down 5 percent. In the Middle East and Africa, the pessimism shows through a bit more, with the survey indicating a five-year low in expectations to buy.

A Look to the Future

Ed Bolen, president and CEO of NBAA, echoed Honeywell’s confidence in the industry’s resilience:

“Over the past year we have seen an incredible influx of new entrants into our marketplace. The benefits of business aviation are suddenly very real and tangible to people who hadn’t experienced it before.”

Bolen was part of a panel hosted by Honeywell at its release event at NBAA on Sunday evening, joining Stéphane Fymat, Honeywell’s vice president and general manager of urban air mobility and UAS, and Geoffrey Richardson, chief financial officer of Lilium, pioneering eVTOL manufacturer.

Fymat has led the dedicated unit for a little more than a year, and he highlighted the biggest accomplishment and challenge so far.

“In terms of the biggest accomplishment, we really set out not just to create a business unit within Honeywell, but to make this happen in the industry. We set out to evangelize, to provide thought leadership—and a year and a half later I’d say we’ve definitely made huge strides in that.”

“The most important thing is that we’ve been able to partner with leading innovative aircraft designers like Lilium…to help them bring their vision forward. Their vehicles are not possible without things like fly-by-wire systems. They are not possible without light avionics systems that have a pathway to autonomy.”

With that observation, Fymat illuminated just why Honeywell’s recent release of Anthem is so critical—because it is 50 percent lighter overall than similar integrated flight decks, and that it is constantly connected, and therefore, sets its own “pathway to autonomy.”

On the flip side of this opportunity sits the key challenge Fymat noted: “If weight were important in any aircraft application, it is absolutely king in urban air mobility, in regional air mobility.”

Lilium’s Richardson concurred, and went on to share his perspective, from Lilium. “In 2023, we will have—whether it’s a 6-, 8-[seat] aircraft with Stéphane’s [team’s] great contributions flying—that’s what we’ll be putting into service.”

Richardson expressed humility that the certification process requires many steps, proving a number of new technologies from a range of partners—but still mentioned a goal of reaching certification by 2024 and being poised for the “scaling stage” to come.

The post Honeywell Forecast Shows Resilience, Optimism appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Embraer Executive Jets has delivered its 1,500th business jet, a Phenom 300E that has gone to a charter operation in Switzerland, Haute Aviation.

The company has reached this mark in roughly 20 years—a feat that it has determined would normally take an aircraft manufacturer an average of 34 years to achieve.

“For Haute Aviation, the new Phenom 300E is the best product on the market to complete the range of our fleet,” said Catherine Tamagni, head of marketing and communication at Haute Aviation. “We believe the aircraft’s two engines will suit our passengers who prefer not to fly in a single-engine aircraft, as this allows for uncompromised range and payload performance.

“However, we are most confident that our charter clients will be impressed by the fantastic cabin with its best-in-class altitude, low noise and extreme comfort.”

The light jet can cruise at speeds up to Mach 0.80, making it among the fastest in the class, while still allowing for a range ring of up to 2,010 nm—enough to reach all of Europe from Haute’s base at the Saanen-Gstaad Airport in Switzerland’s Alps region.

The Phenom 300E features a host of upgrades on the flight deck, including a synthetic vision system (SVS) and Embraer’s runway overrun awareness and alerting system (ROAAS)―which the company notes is the first technology of its kind to be certified in the business aviation sector.

The company reports it has more than 950 customers for its business aviation segment, based in more than 80 countries.

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The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) released its 2021 Q2 report, showing marked improvement over the same period in 2020.

The turboprop and rotorcraft segments have made the largest year-over-year gains, with turboprops posting a 45.4 percent increase for the first six months of 2021 as compared to the same period last year. Total helicopter shipments improved by 32.7 percent across the same span.

Billings were also up significantly, with total airplane billings at $8.6 billion for the first half of 2021, a 9.4 percent uptick, and total helicopter billings at $1.4 billion, a jump of 37.7 percent.

“Through the first six months of 2021, we can see that the industry continues to progress in its recovery efforts,” said GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce. “While it is encouraging to see segments improve from 2020, we still trail when compared to how the industry was faring before the onset of the pandemic.

“Efforts to address ongoing supply chain issues, strengthen our workforce and enhance environmental sustainability will continue to be at the forefront as interest and demand for aircraft remains robust,”

Shipments and Billings Data

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Revenues for the second quarter topped $1.13 billion, a significant increase over 2020′s Q2 performance.

The company broke down the totals into 14 commercial jets and 20 executive jets—with what they categorize as 12 light and 8 large jets within the segment. Typically, “light” signifies the Phenom 100EV and 300E class, while “large” refers to the Praetor 500 and 600 and Lineage in the current model lineup.

The first half of the year in total has brought 23 commercial deliveries and 33 on the business-aviation side, with growth in revenues over the same period in 2020 of 65.5 percent.

Embraer reports a solid backlog as well: $15.9 billion. This translates in part to its delivery forecast for the remainder of the year.

“The company expects commercial jet deliveries of 45 to 50 aircraft, executive jet deliveries of 90 to 95 units, consolidated revenues in a range of $4.0 to $4.5 billion, adjusted EBIT margin of 3.0 percent to 4.0 percent, adjusted EBITDA margin of 8.5 percent to 9.5 percent, and free cash flow to be within a range of a usage of $150 million to breakeven for the year without M&A or divestitures,” Embraer reported in a press release.

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Robinson Helicopter Company has made delivery number 13,000: an R44 Raven headed for Texas operator SKY Helicopters in Dallas. The aircraft, serial number 14438, was delivered on April 23, and it comes fully equipped, with a brand-new paint scheme.

The R44 features the following options: a Lithium-ion battery, heated seats, and a 4K cockpit video camera, plus a Garmin 700L TXi, GTN 650Xi navigator, and a Genesys HeliSAS autopilot. SKY has been a Robinson dealer since 1996 and this addition brings its fleet total to 27 Robinsons.

SKY’s president, Ken Pyatt, said, “We purchased this R44 for our Part 135 air taxi and tour operations because we needed a safe and reliable helicopter than can fly all day, every day.” With 42 years of producing light piston and turbine rotorcraft, Robinson has served an important corner of the market with its R22, R44, and R66 models. Flying featured a history of the company in the March 2020 issue. Robinson reported to GAMA a total of 177 units shipped in 2020, including 18 R22 Beta IIs, 12 R44 Cadets, 32 R44 Raven Is, 61 R44 Raven IIs, and 54 R66s.

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