2Q GAMA Numbers Encouraging for Light Aircraft Manufacturers
Second quarter numbers look great for light aviation, not so much for other sectors.
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The General Aviation Manufacturers' Association (GAMA) came out with its second quarter, 2018, delivery figures, and they look great for light aviation. Not so much for other sectors. Here's the breakdown.
Worldwide shipments (which is synonymous with "deliveries") of light GA planes were up precipitously. While it's not uncommon for the second and fourth quarters of a year to experience a seasonal bounce, this year's 2Q uptick was substantial. In both worldwide and U.S. markets, piston powered plane deliveries were up by a lot, 36 percent in the U.S. (255 planes shipped versus 162 in the first quarter of 2018) and 32 percent worldwide. The year to date total for piston powered light planes was 498, which projects to better than 1,000 planes for the year, a solid number by recent metrics. Of those planes, Cirrus Aircraft delivered 113 planes in the second quarter, for a year-to-date total of 197 Cirrus planes for the year. The company delivered 25 of its SF-50 Cirrus Vision Jets in the first half (15 in Q2).
Daher shipped 22 TBMs (910s and 930s) in the first half, Diamond delivered 58, and Pilatus handed over 31 PC-12 turboprop singles in the first half. Icon, facing a series of major setbacks over the course of the last 18 months, delivered just one A5 in the second quarter. Piper Aircraft had a great second quarter, with 53 deliveries, including 19 Model 46 planes (M350, M500 and M600 models), and Textron Aviation's Cessna division has shipped 75 piston planes in the first half of the year. The company delivered its last TTx model in the first quarter.
Overall it was a solid quarter all around, with upticks in turboprop, light jet and jet shipments worldwide. The overall sales, according to GAMAs numbers, were better than $8.5 billion for the first half of the year.


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