The NBAA spoke about the State of the Industry event held by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) on Wednesday, stressing the need for continued innovation, sustainability and workforce developments in the industry amidst a rise in deliveries for GA aircraft. Continual development and growth can maintain a strong industry.
GAMA released its 2022 General Aviation aircraft shipment and billing report during the press conference. Compared to 2021, there was an increase of six percent with an increase in shipments and preliminary deliveries valued at $26.8 billion.
“The general aviation manufacturing industry continues to show increasing strength despite workforce and supply chain challenges across our industry, GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce said. “Our product development across the spectrum of fixed wing, rotorcraft and Advanced Air Mobility vehicles is spurred by the recognition that our industry is the safety and sustainability technology incubator for global civil aviation.”
“These safety, performance and sustainability efforts are built upon progress with lighter weight materials, new structural and wing designs, fly-by-wire control replacing heavy hydraulic systems, additive manufacturing reducing the number of parts, lighter weight and more reliable avionics, and engines and airframes that can fly on a 100% sustainable aviation fuel blend,” Bunce said. “Of course, the impressive list of progress doesn’t even begin to touch on the revolution of electric, hybrid and hydrogen propulsion our companies are developing. As we look towards FAA reauthorization in the U.S., we will be looking for Congress to focus the FAA on improving their processes to facilitate the certification of new technologies as well as support their validation efforts globally to deliver safety, performance and sustainability benefits.”
Aircraft like pistons, turboprops, business jets and helicopters all saw an increase since 2021. The value of airplane deliveries for 2022 was $22.9 billion, which is an increase of 5.8 percent. The NBAA said that while these numbers are promising, several challenges facing the industry may hinder long-term growth, including the many misperceptions about the role GA plays in supporting its communities.
“Aviation is an integral part of how modern economies operate,” GAMA Chair Eric Hinson said. “It’s absolutely essential [and] it’s incumbent upon all of us to make sure that we communicate that to decision makers.”
Despite the criticism and a growing number of protests across the world over the industry’s environmental impact, Bunce felt there is already ongoing work being done in business aviation to reduce its carbon footprint. From the development of green technology and sustainable aviation fuel to work done in the advanced air mobility field.
“General and business aviation are the technology and sustainability incubator for all of aerospace,” Bunce said. “The pace of development is increasing [and] our efficiency is going up dramatically in all of these new products that are being developed.”
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The industry relies on a regulatory framework to achieve technological feats like hydrogen-powered energy and sustainable fuel sources. With the FAA reauthorization debate ongoing and the fall date looming, this is among the top priorities for the industry.
“Recently, the FAA has really struggled to provide timely and effective guidance and oversight to our industry,” Hinson said. “We’re going to want to focus on seeing if we can fix some of those issues.”
Leadership panel
The development of the workforce is another large concern for the industry. A panel discussion featured many young members of the GA industry, including Cirrus Aircraft Air Safety Intern, Emma Rasmussen. She spoke on the importance of creating a supportive environment for newcomers in the industry.
“[For] an employer, part of the responsibility of retaining talent is making sure that you cultivate that growth and give your employees an environment to thrive,” she said.
Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are also important to grow the industry with new faces and ideas.
Watch the full 2023 State of the Industry here
“The future workforce needs to be able to see themselves in roles across the industry,” said Rosa Lee Argotsinger, Director of flight safety and security at Textron Aviation.
IADA congratulated GAMA on the rising airplane billings and shipments in 2022.
“Higher deliveries and the substantial backlog by GAMA member companies will contribute to further normalizing the business aircraft resale marketplace, which is good news for aircraft buyers and sellers and our industry in general,” IADA Vice Chair Phil Winters said.
Winters and IADA Executive Director Wayne Starling, representing the resale association, have both commented on the increase in deliveries.
“Continued increasing deliveries of tturbine-poweredbusiness aircraft demonstrate that the aircraft industry is continuing to successfully address supply chain issues which will bolster the depleted inventory of aircraft available for resale,” Starling said.
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