Worldwide business and general aviation avionics sales topped $2.8 billion last year, marking a 21.5 percent increase from 2021 and the largest year-over-year jump since the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) began reporting those results 11 years ago.
The organization yesterday released the 2022 AEA Avionics Market Report, noting the fourth quarter led the increases with $794 million in total sales (both retrofit and forward-fit), up 31.2 percent from a year earlier. Further, sales in the final three months of 2022 were up 7.2 percent quarter-over-quarter, continuing a string of 10 consecutive quarterly increases.
For the year, the breakdown between retrofit and forward-fit was fairly even at 48.2 percent and 51.8 percent, respectively. Throughout the year, forward-fit accounted for between 52.7 percent and 55.8 percent in the first nine months, but just 44.4 percent in the fourth quarter.
North America remained the dominant market, accounting for 74.9 percent of avionics sales last year. While 2022 marked the largest year-over-year increase in AEA’s tracking history, it was still slightly below the record of $3 billion in 2019.
“We have seen yearly sales rebound in the last two years despite supply-chain constraints and a tight labor market,” said AEA president and CEO Mike Adamson. “While it’s encouraging to see a record-breaking percentage increase in year-over-year avionics sales, the industry is still rebounding from the economic impact of the pandemic.”
The NTSB has introduced an interactive graphic tool enabling researchers to visualize data about general aviation (GA) accident investigations over a 10-year period. The general aviation accident dashboardprovides summary statistics, investigative findings, and safety recommendations for 12,368 completed and ongoing GA accident investigations from 2012 through 2021.
Dashboard users can obtain accident reports and statistics by selecting filters for year of accident, location, phase of flight, defining event (such as CFIT or runway excursion), and type of flight, including selections for accidents involving personal and business aircraft and corporate/executive aircraft. There are also preset filters for commonly sought-after findings such as those dealing with aircraft control, engine issues, and weather.
The dashboard contains a spreadsheet that lists the finished accident investigations and those for which a preliminary report has been published over the 10-year span, showing report number, date and location of occurrence, aircraft make and model, level of injuries, the extent of aircraft damage, phase of flight, and circumstances. Also shown are recommendations that evolved from the investigations and the probable cause/factors of concluded investigations.
Data is covered for accidents involving GA aircraft flown under FAR Parts 91, 133, and 137, but not Part 135 air-taxi operations.
U.S. business aircraft departures in 2022 reached 4.06 million in 2022, a nearly 10 percent increase over 2019 levels, according to an Airbus Corporate Jets analysis. Each month in 2022 came in higher than business aircraft departures during the same month in 2019, the company added. The average number of hours flown also is up by 3.5 percent from pre-pandemic 2019.
Heavy jets, ultra-long-range, and bizliner activity in particular experienced a 19.4 percent increase from 2019, with 99.9 percent of the flights flown on routes less than 5,500 nm. Departures of the larger and longer-range jets jumped by 69.5 percent at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida and by 64.2 percent at Miami-Opa locka Executive Airport. Across the country in Arizona, departures increased by 55.6 percent at Scottsdale.
While Teterboro Airport has returned to being the busiest business aviation airport, departures there last year were still down by 1.6 percent from 2019 for all business aircraft and 3 percent lower for larger, longer-range models.
Airbus Corporate Jets research indicates the majority of operators plan to increase their use of business aircraft this year, with one in four organizations participating in the study predicting their operations will rise by more than 50 percent.
Embraer is sharing its exhibit booth with Marshall University this week at the 34th annual Women in Aviation International (WAI) Conference in Long Beach, California. The three-day conference opens Thursday at the Long Beach Convention Center.
This cooperation at the WAI event comes on the heels of the Embraer Foundation—the OEM’s nonprofit arm—providing a financial contribution to students at Marshall University’s new aviation maintenance technology program in partnership with Mountwest Community and Technical College. This funding supplied students with tool kits for their coursework and other necessities for their education.
“We are pleased to attend the Women in Aviation International Conference as last year’s event provided invaluable knowledge for our employees,” said Kirsten Patchett, the head of human resources at Embraer Executive Jets and Embraer USA. “The event provides an excellent platform for networking and educational opportunities for women in aerospace and aligns with our recent environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) goals. As Embraer continues to diversify our workforce, it’s important that we attend these events that align with our commitments.”
As part of the social aspect of Embraer’s ESG goals, the company has committed to increasing the number of women in leadership and increasing diversity in hires. Additionally, Embraer has launched the “Embrace Women” employee resource group in the U.S. to help female employees share experiences, find mentors, and network.
FlightSafety Studies the Decision-Making Process of Go-Arounds to Enhance Training
Pilots can and should choose go-arounds when approaches become unstable. Now, FlightSafety International is working to determine what goes into pilots’ decision-making process and whether different choices should be made. Incorporating the results is what the company hopes will lead to better flight training, ultimately preparing pilots more effectively.
PHI MRO Services—a division of helicopter services company PHI—will hold a special corrosion control seminar at Heli-Expo 2023 on Wednesday, March 7 from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. in Georgia World Congress Center room B314. Tom Neumann, president of PHI MRO Services, and other members of the company's technical team will host the seminar.
“PHI has nearly 75 years of experience working offshore and in other harsh environments,” said Neumann. “We understand the importance of safety and how quickly corrosion can cause damage to helicopters. Our goal is to leverage that experience and help operators identify, prevent, and treat corrosion to keep their helicopters flying safely for longer.”
“Corrosion is one the greatest threats to helicopters, and operators can take specific actions to prevent costly repairs,” added PHI MRO Part 145 maintenance director Joshua Perkins “These seminars are designed to help operators and maintenance professionals keep aircraft flying and reduce costly downtime.”
The corrosion control seminar will be the first in a series of educational seminars hosted by the PHI MRO Services team. Its remaining seminars will be held throughout the year and focus on a variety of subjects, including safety, maintenance operations, and expanding corrosion control. Interested parties can register for the corrosion control seminar at Heli-Expo on the PHI MRO website.
Titan Aviation Fuels has welcomed Jetscape, an FBO at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport (KFLL), as the newest member of its branded dealer network. One of four service providers at the bustling Florida gateway, Jetscape offers more than 100,000 sq ft of hangar space, including a 32,000-sq-ft structure with a 45-foot-high door capable of sheltering a BBJ-size aircraft, making it the largest private hangar on the field.
By year-end, the company expects to debut its new $35 million FBO, which will occupy 25 acres and feature a 25,000-sq-ft terminal and an additional 80,000-sq-ft hangar.
“As one of the largest suppliers of aviation fuel in the country, we are thrilled to partner with Titan Aviation Fuels,” said Jetscape president Troy Menken. “They have long had a strong reputation for providing highly personalized service and they truly understand our FBO business.”
Inflight Connectivity Question of the Week
Sponsored by
The average employee actively uses __ cloud services at work.
Atlanta-based Rotorcorp is doubling its inventory of Robinson Helicopter parts in response to continuing supply-chain disruptions and rising costs, which it anticipates will extend into 2024. Rotorcorp is the largest reseller of Robinson parts in the world with more than 3,000 customers in 40 countries. The company is taking the action to “ensure that high-tempo and high-urgency Robinson R22, R44, and R66 helicopter operators around the world can easily access the critical parts they need to keep flying safely.”
According to Rotorcorp, supply-chain problems and price increases were particularly acute for the Lycoming piston engines and related parts used to power R22 and R44 models. In fact, the engine manufacturer’s prices have increased by 25 to 30 percent while lead times for items such as cylinder kits are up to 12 months. Meanwhile, obtaining whole engines can take eight months.
“We are diligently monitoring the situation and striving to deliver creative solutions to this critical and growing problem,” Rotorcorp noted. It urged customers to place orders early for anticipated items such as complete Robinson overhaul kits. While the pandemic and associated disruptions hobbled some suppliers, Rotorcorp said it actually expanded its business thanks to an aggressive push into e-commerce during the period. This included providing live inventory stock counts of items available in its web store.
Ticino, Switzerland helicopter service company Karen has taken delivery of two new-production Bell 505s as part of its plan to modernize its single-engine fleet of three Agusta-Bell 206 helicopters and as a result of a strategic investment in Karen’s Aviation Training Center. The center provides aircrew as well as technical training under Part 147. Karen said it plans to acquire additional training helicopters.
The company will use the aircraft for training and charter commercial flights. One is configured with a VIP interior and the other with a utility interior and cargo hook. Karen said the performance of the 505 made it better suited for mountainous operations. Upon certification approval, an autopilot will be added to the VIP ship, which will enable its use as an IFR trainer.
Karen holds EASA Part 147 technical training and Part 145 MRO certifications and is an authorized service center for Leonardo Helicopters and Pratt & Whitney Canada engines. It services Leonardo AW119-series, A109/AW109-series, AW169, AW139, and AW189 helicopters, in addition to Bell 206, 505, and 212/412 models.
People in Aviation
Embraer appointed Roberto Chaves to the newly created role as v-p of global procurement and Dimas Tomelin to the new position as v-p of strategy, digital, and innovation. Chaves joined Embraer in 2001 and most recently served as director of procurement. Tomelin has been with Embraer for 21 years and has served as director of strategy for the past three years.
Robert Grimmett was hired by helicopter manufacturer Schweizer as the company’s North American sales manager. Grimmett joins Schweizer having previous experience in the luxury automotive and other high-end sales industries. In his new role, he is responsible for aircraft and parts sales, service support, and market development in the U.S. and Canada.
Mark Norklun rejoined Pro Star Aviation as technical sales manager for maintenance. Norklun was the first employee at Pro Star upon the company’s founding in 1998 and served as a maintenance floor lead until 2005. During his hiatus from Pro Star, he served as a director of maintenance for a New England-based corporate aviation department.
Airbus appointed Thomas Toepfer to succeed Dominik Asam as CFO following his retirement on March 3. Toepfer—Covestro’s CFO and labor director—will join Airbus on September 1. Xavier Tardy, executive v-p of finance for Airbus Defence and Space, will ensure continuity during the interim period in addition to his current role.
Paragon Aviation Group appointed Gary Forster, Jean-François Guitard, and Florian Samsinger as members of its FBO advisory board. Forster serves as managing director of ExecuJet Caribbean, Guitard is the director of the general aviation and business development unit of Société des Aéroports de la Côte d'Azur and Samsinger is managing director of Magnum FBO.
AINalerts News Tips/Feedback: News tips may be sent anonymously, but feedback must include name and contact info (we will withhold name on request). We reserve the right to edit correspondence for length, clarity and grammar. Send feedback or news tips to AINalerts editor Chad Trautvetter.
AINalerts is a publication of AIN Media Group, 214 Franklin Avenue, Midland Park, New Jersey. Copyright 2023. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited.
