Textron Aviation saw a strong third quarter with revenue of $1.3 billion, a 14.7 percent year-over-year increase, according to results released this morning in the company’s earnings call.

The increase reflected a mix of higher volume ($89 million) and higher pricing ($82 million), the company reported.

“At Aviation, we saw our strongest order quarter of the year with a 12 percent increase over the third quarter of 2022,” said Textron chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly. “Eventually the industry has to get to [a book-to-bill of] 1:1. I don’t really think it can continue to exceed that much for that long, but obviously, our sales teams are out there and customer demand is what it is."

For the quarter, the airframer delivered 39 Cessna jets, the same as last year’s tally, and 38 turboprops, an increase of five from last year’s third quarter. The OEM’s airplane backlog at the end of the quarter stood at $7.4 billion.

Donnelly did note that the company is still seeing supply chain pinch points, which were particularly evident in its Bell helicopter division. It delivered 23 helicopters in the third quarter, less than half the amount it did a year ago. Bell’s backlog currently amounts to $5.2 billion.

The quarterly decline was due to manufacturing disruptions related to lingering supply chain shortages, according to Donnelly.

The International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA) has released its third quarter 2023 market report, pointing toward an expansive future for the business aviation marketplace. The report combines sales data with insights from IADA’s global member base.

According to IADA’s executive director, Wayne Starling, there are notable improvements industrywide. “The good news is that inventories are expanding, price inflation has slowed if not slightly slipped, and supply chain quirks and bottlenecks are being ironed out industrywide,” he said. “Additionally, MROs and FBOs are expanding to meet the needs of aging fleets. Those factors coupled with massive new options from fleet buyers could be signals that supply and demand are rebalancing for a larger post-pandemic marketplace.”

Despite these positives, the preowned business aircraft market indicates some shifts in post-pandemic adjustments. A slight drop in the present assessment of the aircraft sales market has been observed in the last quarter. The contributing factors, as highlighted by IADA survey participants, include rising interest rates, marginally reduced pricing, and growing concerns regarding a potential U.S. economic recession.

Business aircraft valuations have shown consistency. Newer, high-pedigree models have experienced price reductions between 5 to 10 percent off their peak values. In contrast, older aircraft have seen a steeper drop in value, around 15 to 20 percent, over recent years. Aircraft utilization rates remain close to the third-quarter 2022 statistics, significantly outpacing 2019.

Russia’s business aviation sector is struggling to source and operate viable aircraft in the wake of international sanctions imposed more than 18 months ago. According to numerous Russian media reports, the shortage has intensified in recent months, prompting the industry to repurpose aging Soviet-era airliners into private jets, mainly to meet the needs of corporate flight departments.

Large Russian state-backed corporations, such as Gazprom, Rosneft, and Rostec, have operated large fleets of largely Western-made business aircraft, serving the extensive travel needs of their top managers. Now, due to sanctions covering the provision of maintenance services and parts, they have found it hard to keep these in service, and harder still to replace aircraft.

According to a recent report in the Russian Kommersant business newspaper, the space agency Roscosmos and energy group Gazprom are looking to restore dismantled Tupolev Tu-204s. According to industry analysts’ estimates, the cost of converting the 200-seater jets into VIP transports will run up to around $40 million and would presumably involve airframes fitted with older Russian Perm PS-90 engines as opposed to more recent PS-90A2 turbofans that Pratt & Whitney developed with Perm.

A spokesman for Roscosmos, which needs to fly personnel to and from its rocket launch sites, said it is looking to buy preowned Tu-204 and later Tu-214 airliners. Some companies are also considering conversions of the larger Ilyushin Il-96 airliner.

The European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) is working with its members to establish standards through which the industry can work towards the environmental and social sustainability of aircraft operations and the ecosystem that supports flights. The program will result in the implementation of a compliance label that could be applicable to all companies within the business aviation value chain, including not only aircraft operators but also FBOs, maintenance providers, law firms, and finance and insurance companies.

A draft outline of the new Standards & Training for Aviation Responsibility and Sustainability (STARS) has been distributed to some EBAA members participating in the early phase of the pilot program, with a view to expanding it in 2024.

The first phase will be launched with Tier 1, which is intended to lay the foundations for a program to create a set of labels indicating the progress that participants have made. 

Tier 2 is a “Walk the Talk” exercise in which participants start implementing their environmental and social responsibility strategies to achieve specific targets and goals. This stage will involve training for managers and employees.

Tier 3, which the industry group has designated as Super STARS, will see participants demonstrating the improvements achieved in both areas of the program. It will also involve collaboration with companies’ suppliers to ensure that they are held to the same standards.

A helicopter landed safely on Tuesday after a lightning strike apparently ripped off two of its four tail rotor blades, damaged its horizontal stabilizer, and compromised its flight instruments. The Helijet Sikorsky S-76C++ was on an IFR flight from the Vancouver harbor to Victoria on Vancouver Island in British Columbia with two pilots and 12 passengers aboard.

The incident occurred shortly after 9 a.m. local time while the aircraft was mid-route, in a cloud, and at an altitude of 4,200 feet.

According to Helijet CEO Daniel Sitnam, the pilots saw a bright flash and heard a loud bang, then noticed their instruments were out. However, they were able to declare an emergency with air traffic control. They then descended below the cloud deck to an altitude of 1,300 feet and maintained visual reference to landing.

A weather statement from Environment Canada for the Victoria Island area Tuesday called for up to two inches of rain but made no mention of lightning. Canada’s Transportation Safety Board is collecting evidence related to the incident and may launch a formal investigation.

Jet Aviation has finalized a renovation of the lobby at its FBO in Houston, a project that began in the fourth quarter last year. This revamp expands passenger areas by approximately 500 sq ft and brings additional amenities that reflect the company's refreshed brand standards.

Key features of the renovation are a new refreshment cafe, upgraded pilot lounges and flight planning area, and improved facilities for employees. The company said the entire overhaul of the 6,362-sq-ft lobby was executed in stages, ensuring that the FBO remained operational throughout the nearly year-long renovation.

This initiative at Houston Hobby Airport (KHOU) is part of Jet Aviation's broader strategy to enhance the customer experience across its global network. The company inaugurated a new hangar in Bozeman, Montana, in September and another in Scottsdale, Arizona, in June. Additionally, the lobby of its Teterboro, New Jersey FBO underwent remodeling in March, according to the company.

Richard Layson, v-p of FBO operations in the Americas, said, “As part of our continued investment in the facilities across our network, we are pleased to announce the completion of our lobby renovation at Houston Hobby Airport. This new lobby, along with our 80,000 square feet of hangar space and aircraft canopy—the only one at the airport—further demonstrates our ongoing commitment to continue as [a] partner of choice for our customers."

With a 1.4-inch sapphire Amoled display and a 51-mm case, Garmin’s D2 Mach 1 Pro aviator watch is 4 mm larger than its predecessor, the D2 Mach 1. The larger watch has longer battery life, and the Pro runs up to 25 days in smartwatch mode—46 hours when using the fly activity.

New features include a flashlight, red shift mode, and ECG app. The price of the new watch is $1,399—$100 more than the regular D2 Mach 1. The LED flashlight is mounted on the top side of the carbon gray watch case and offers four variable white light intensities, a strobe light, and a red light. The case is made of “diamond-like carbon” titanium. Users can access all functions with five buttons or with the touchscreen. The watch comes with Garmin QuickFit carbon gray titanium and silicon bands.

The D2 Mach 1 Pro carries on Garmin aviation features such as a worldwide aeronautical database, HSI navigation, direct-to, and moving map. When connected to a smartphone, the watch can display the latest Nexrad imagery, Metars, and TAFs, plus MOS weather reports in a graphic “Meteogram.” Other features include time, distance, altitude, and fuel timer alerts; a pulse oximeter; and, for engine failures, best glide speed, estimated glide distance and time, and a bearing pointer to the nearest airport as well as a list of alternates.

The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) 2023 Aviation Business Conference, scheduled next week in Long Beach, California, will expand on its collaboration in the advanced air mobility (AAM) sector as well as delve into issues such as the roils of the market and supply chain.

The two-day event at The Westin in Long Beach opens November 1 with a welcome reception and leadership dinner, and a full day of issues-oriented sessions are planned for November 2. Following opening remarks by Cynthia Guidry, director of Long Beach Airport, the conference will then move to a discussion of the work of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) in the AAM realm.

CNO is the first Native American tribal government to receive a public aircraft operations certificate of authorization and one of eight FAA UAS BEYOND sites. It signed a memorandum of understanding with NATA on September 28 under which they will collaborate to develop the ecosystem to support the introduction of eVTOL aircraft and other new services. Since then, CNO has broken ground on a test site.

Also on the schedule are discussions on business aviation market trends from the creator of the JetNet iQ Survey, Rollie Vincent; the latest on aircraft fire protection requirements and the impact of hangar foam discharges; workforce staying power; perspectives on buying and selling charter; the state of the supply chain; and sustainable aviation.