Podcast: Analysis From Sun ‘n Fun & Aero Friedrichshafen

The spring aviation events season is in full swing. Aviation Week editors share insights from Sun ‘n Fun, Aero Friedrichshafen and the Aerospace Maintenance Council’s Competition at MRO Americas. And yes, tariffs came up!

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Transcript

Lee Ann Shay:

Welcome to the latest BCA Podcast. I'm Lee Ann Shay, Aviation Week's executive editor for MRO and Business Aviation. And this episode we'll explore the industry which has been on the move. Here to discuss this is Molly McMillin, Aviation Week's editor-in-chief of the Weekly of Business Aviation and Managing Editor for Business Aviation for Aviation Week. And Bill Carey, who is our senior editor for Business Aviation.

Molly and Bill, welcome to the podcast.

Molly McMillin:

Thanks for having us.

Bill Carey:

Glad to be here.

Lee Ann Shay:

So Molly, you attended SUN 'n FUN in Florida earlier this month. What was it like and how was it different from last year?

Molly McMillin:

It was busy. It was the 51st SUN 'n FUN Aero Expo, April 1 to April 6th, in Lakeland, Florida. And the 50th last year was a record, and the 51st beat that record. There were 557 exhibitors, thousands of attendees. They even sold out over the last weekend, ahead of time. And many view, I think, SUN 'n FUN as the spring kickoff to show season, as this podcast is evidence of, because many left SUN 'n FUN to take off to AERO Friedrichshafen and that Bill's going to talk about.

So there were some unveilings there. Daher kicked off the show with announcements of avionics and systems enhancements to its Kodiak product line. Cirrus Aircraft unveiled the Cirrus IQ and Cirrus IQ PRO for digital aircraft management and they demoed that app during the show. Epic Aircraft unveiled the latest version of their single engine, six seat, turboprop, the Epic E1000 AX, with features like the Garmin Autoland, Garmin Autothrottle.

AURA AERO based in Toulouse, France, made the US debut of its INTEGRAL R trainer and aircraft with aerobatic capabilities. Vulcan Air North America is opening a manufacturing facility in North Carolina to build training aircraft. It was just a busy show.

Lee Ann Shay:

That sounds good. And Bill, as Molly mentioned, you were at AERO Friedrichshafen last week in southern Germany and I saw that the organizers said that it had a record number of aircraft from drones to gliders, microlights, piston, aircraft, helicopters and jets. I guess 328. Tell us about what you saw and what the atmosphere was like.

Bill Carey:

Yeah, yeah. It was quite an aviation extravaganza. That's a phrase that I've reserved in the past for OshKosh. But AERO Friedrichshafen in the city of Friedrichshafen in southern Germany really span the gamut of aviation from home-built aircraft up to the largest of business jets. This was the 31st edition of AERO Friedrichshafen, which traditionally has been a general aviation event. They claim that it was up in all categories from previous years. There were 760 exhibitors. I think last year they said there were 500 and ... no 690, so that's 70 exhibitors more from 38 countries, a total of 328 aircraft.

And over the course of a four-day event, they reported 32,000 visitors. So it was a European follow up to SUN 'n FUN for spring trade events in aviation. This year marked its largest footprint of business aviation aircraft and that's a category that AERO Friedrichshafen is hoping to become the leader of. We're on the precipice of EBACE, which is held in May in Geneva, so those two shows are going to be head-to-head with each other. EBACE, my understanding is there will be no static display this year, whereas AERO Friedrichshafen had something on the order of 30 business jets and turboprops on display as well as a exhibit hall full of helicopters. So it's a category that the organizers hope to increase their presence in.

Lee Ann Shay:

So Bill, a couple of follow up questions about that. I saw that they debuted the Business Aviation Dome. Can you tell us about that? And also, I mean were most of the aircraft OEMs there, especially on the jet side?

Bill Carey:

Most of the business aviation OEMs were represented both in terms of static display and exhibit space. The two newcomers this year were Dassault Aviation and Airbus Helicopters, but other business aviation OEMs traditionally have had a presence at AERO Friedrichshafen. You mentioned the Business Aviation Dome, I think glass-enclosed facility, which housed 15 or so exhibitors and had a presentation stage and that was the center of activities. It was right at the head of the static display and right adjacent to the airfield at Friedrichshafen Airport. It's actually known as Bodensee. Bodensee is the German reference for Lake Constance, which is the really scenic lake on which Friedrichshafen is along the shoreline.

There's actually, they launched a new concept, they're calling it the Business Aviation Show Hub, BASH, and it's a whole new concept according to the organizers. And that included the new Business Aviation Dome, the static display, and there was also business aviation companies represented in two of the 12 large exhibit halls at AERO Friedrichshafen as well. So business aviation, though it's been present in the past, it had more of a profile this year than it's ever had at this event.

Lee Ann Shay:

And as you noticed, as you mentioned, this comes at a time when we've got EBACE next month in Switzerland, and this will be the first EBACE where NBAA and the European Business Aviation Association haven't co-produced the event and it's the first time that there will not be a static display at EBACE.

Molly McMillin:

Bill, I noticed a story that you wrote from Aero about that Europe is nearing a decision on facing at 100LL, which is a big decision there. What's the uptake on that?

Bill Carey:

Right? Yeah, that was a subject I was interested in pursuing when I went to Friedrichshafen. I've been following that closely in the United States. There's somewhat of a different situation in Europe, various, I think three separate oil or fuel suppliers have applied for exemptions to phase out the lead component of 100LL AVGAS from the European Commission. They're going to be given a certain timeframe to do that. And the expectation is that will be, they'll be allowed to keep tetraethylene lead component, which is an octane booster, and 100LL AVGAS until, I believe, at 2032 is what the expectation is the commission will approve and after that Europe will have solely unleaded AVGAS for piston engine aircraft. And that's a subject that is being pursued, a goal being pursued in the United States as well.

Lee Ann Shay:

Neither of you mentioned advanced air mobility. BETA in the US has been flying around. You've got Joby and Archer working. Was AEM much of a talking point at either SUN 'n FUN or AERO Friedrichshafen.

Bill Carey:

At Friedrichshafen actually saw electric airplanes flying. There was, I think, a Swiss training aircraft that was all electric. It's kind of like, I don't want to say a bad word, but it's like the Tesla when you start it up, you don't hear it. I saw the prop turning and I didn't hear anything and that was interesting. And then also there was the debut of the first certificated four seat electric aircraft from China. I don't know if I'm pronouncing this Rooksang general Aircraft company that also conducted a flight demonstration at AERO Friedrichshafen. So yes, sustainability, electric aircraft, there was also a hydrogen battery Summit conference that was held in addition to the conference activities at the show. And speaking with the organizers, that's a topic they've been covering now for a number of years and plan to continue doing so.

Lee Ann Shay:

Yeah, it definitely feels like just across the board that alternative sources for engines, electric, hybrid, hydrogen, they're not going away, they're making progress. So stay tuned. One other note, also last week, Aviation Week's own MRO Americas was held in Atlanta and we co-locate, we host the Aerospace Maintenance Council's competition. And for anybody who hasn't seen this, it is delightful. It's fun. We had 86 different teams who practiced for almost a year to compete across these 27 timed judge events. The 86 teams participate in school, general aviation, MRO, OEM and airline, I'm sorry, military and airline teams. So congratulations to all the teams for participating, but a special shout out to Team 63 Aircraft Engineers International for winning the general aviation category and also a big congratulations to Team 3, Tarrant County College for winning first place in the school category. Oh, speaking of competitions, Molly, we forgot to mention Shoot to Win, the competition which was at SUN 'n FUN. Can you talk about that?

Molly McMillin:

Sure. Mike Lavitt with Aviation Week did an early kickoff of the Aviation Week 2025 photo contest and it was a free seminar called Shoot to Win. And he invited a professional photographer, Erik Kuna, and they talked about what judges look for as they review the entries, but they also talked about, or Erik Kuna did especially, tips on technique and strategy and equipment and how to take good winning photos. So it was good for anyone who likes to take photos. And I hear he's already received more than 40 entrants just since SUN 'n FUN ended, so people are interested.

One thing I noticed, and maybe you can tell me a topic of conversation at the shows you both were at, was a lot of people were having conversations about tariffs because it was so new and it was a real topic of conversation. Epic Aircraft said that they were offering tariff protection and the goal was to remove uncertainty. And on orders, they said that if new customers sign a deal and if they're tariffs that the company will cover it.

And the president, Doug King, he said, "Now I'm not saying that's going to last indefinitely, it just depends on how crazy it all gets." But like Ron Gunnarson from Piper, he's vice president of sales, said, "It's just such a confusing time and that this is one more thing that's confusing in the airplane business." He's an optimist, of course, but he was talking about the list of challenges business aviation has had to deal with. First the pandemic, then supplier and labor challenges, and now tariffs. And he said, "Next, we're waiting for it to rain frogs and locusts." But he did quickly say this too shall pass and that it's a fun business and they're in it for life. But I think they're just a big question mark still, what did you both find?

Lee Ann Shay:

Absolutely, and I sure hope it doesn't rain frogs and locusts, that would be bad. But yeah, at MRO tariffs were frequent conversations. But, I mean I think the industry is global and it's so interconnected and aircraft and engines contain a lot of parts and components can be multiple parts put together. So this needs to get worked out. But right now in the US parts are getting stuck at customs, they're being stopped at borders. So the industry is already starting to feel the effects, but the industry needs transparency, otherwise there's just going to be multiple problems. So yes, definitely a big issue, but don't quite know how this is all going to shake out yet. But we do know that some of the aircraft deliveries to China have stopped.

Bill Carey:

Boeing.

Lee Ann Shay:

That too. But business jets.

Bill Carey:

At AERO Friedrichshafen, James Viola, the new president CEO of General Aviation Manufacturers Association, listed or raised tariffs as one of the biggest challenges now facing the US industry. So that's significant.

Lee Ann Shay:

Well, for all of those who are listening, Aviation Week and Space Technology does have a big tariffs feature in this next issue, so be on the lookout for that. But it is a moving target, so it could change by the time we print that, so stay tuned. We are out of time. But Molly and Bill, thank you for your insights, this is a wrap. And I'd also like to thank our listeners and thank you to Jeremy Kariuki for producing this episode. Don't miss the next episode by subscribing to the BCA podcast where you ever listen to them. And one last request, if you'd like to support us, please leave us a star rating or write a review.