The second quarter of 2009 further compounded the economic woes of the general aviation manufacturing sector as the number of deliveries plunged some 49 percent, according to statistics released last week by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. This has led to a 45.9 percent decline in total deliveries through the first half of the year.

“These are extremely challenging times for all general aviation manufacturers and suppliers,” said GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce. “Layoffs continue and our industry has been forced to slow, and in some cases, temporarily halt production lines.”

GA plane makers shipped 578 planes in the second quarter, down from the 1,133 shipped in the second quarter of 2008. For the first half, shipments fell from 1,981 in 2008 to 1,037 in the most recent six months. First-half billings also dropped, but not quite as dramatically. GA manufacturers reported $9.26 billion in billings for the first half of 2009, down 22.7 percent from the $11.99 billion in billings in the first half of 2008.

Business jet shipments in the first of half of 2009 declined by 37.9 percent to 412. This compares with the 663 business jets shipped in the first six months of 2008. Nearly all of the business jet makers reported declines in both the second quarter and the year overall. Cessna jet deliveries fell from 213 in the first half of 2008 to 153 in the most recent half, and Hawker Beechcraft’s jet deliveries dropped from 70 to 39. The large business jet makers posted lower numbers as well: Bombardier is down from 134 jets to 104, Gulfstream from 76 to 57 and Dassault from 34 to 26 jets.

The exception is Embraer, which is in the process of unleashing a stable of new products beginning with the Phenom 100 very light jet. The second quarter also marked the first delivery of its Lineage 1000. While Embraer’s business jet deliveries jumped from 16 in the first half of 2008 to 21 this year, all of the 2008 deliveries were for the Legacy 600. Embraer only delivered seven Legacy 600s in the first half of this year.

Turboprop deliveries only dropped 13.6 percent in the first half, the strongest performance of any of the GA market niches. Business turboprop makers shipped 191 aircraft in the first half of 2009, compared with 221 in the first half of 2008. Swiss plane maker Pilatus actually had stronger deliveries, with 44 PC-12s shipped in the first half, up from 35 delivered in the first six months of 2008. Quest also continues to ramp up its single-utility, with nine deliveries in the first half. Hawker Beechcraft’s King Air line was only off by nine units in the first half of 2009, and Cessna’s Caravan deliveries were on pace with last year.

Piston deliveries have been hammered this year, down 58 percent from the 1,034 shipments in the first half of 2008 to 434 this year. On a brighter note, the second quarter proved markedly stronger for deliveries than the first quarter for many of the manufacturers. The second quarter usually is stronger for piston deliveries, but Cessna’s shipments doubled from first quarter to second quarter and Cirrus shipments more than doubled.

“We are encouraged that the overall economic picture is showing some signs of improvement, which is a crucial condition for recovery in the general aviation market,” Bunce said. He noted flight hours were stabilizing, used inventories were shrinking, and interest in aircraft purchases was picking up. “Even though it is too early to distinguish these indications as a trend, we are hopeful that this momentum will continue through the second half of the year,” he said. (See BA second quarter unit shipment chart on Pages 61 and 62.)

Photo credit: Beechcraft