First-quarter revenues at General Dynamics’s aerospace division, which includes Gulfstream Aerospace and Jet Aviation, climbed by 20 percent from a year ago, to $1.62 billion, while segment profits ascended 17.8 percent to $271 million.

“This healthy top-line growth was driven by more large-cabin deliveries [at Gulfstream], including G650s and continued growth in aircraft service demand,” General Dynamics chairman and CEO Jay Johnson said yesterday. 

CAVU Jet recently attended the NBAA Regional Forum at the Van Nuys Airport in Southern California. More than 1000 members of the business aviation community gathered for a day of seminars, panels and an exhibition hall. We had the opportunity to view Bombardier’s first Global 6000 with the Global Vision flight deck. The Vision flight deck is based on a Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion system and features the first certified synthetic vision system (SVS) on a heads-up display (HUD).  

Driven by higher corporate profits and the growth of worldwide GDP, the demand for business jets is beginning to recover, according to the FAA Aerospace Forecast for Fiscal Years 2012-2032, released last week. The jet portion of the market is now projected to grow at an average of 4 percent a year over the forecast period. For the full article, click here.

JPMorgan Investment Research notes in its February 21 market report:  “We sense an eagerness for a pickup in the long-depressed business jet market, particularly at the lower end, but we continue to observe mixed signals.” Despite the conflicting signals, the investment research firm still predicts an 8-percent rise in business jet deliveries this year. Keeping with recent trends, large-cabin jets will be driving much of this increase, with only “modest pickup for smaller jets.”

Meanwhile, pre-owned jet average asking prices slid 2.1 percent last month to $12.2 million, “the lowest level since 1998,” said JPMorgan analysts.

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The overall number of used business jets for sale worldwide is receding. A year ago the figure stood at 2,712 and in January there were 2,498.  Source: JetNet

The pre-owned business aircraft market showed improvement in the fourth quarter, according to data released today by business aviation information services firm Amstat. But, it added, performance was not consistent across market segments. At the start of the new year, 13.7 percent of the worldwide business jet fleet was for sale, a 0.3 percentage-point decrease from October and “the return of a positive trend after several months of leveling off.” In the fourth quarter, 2.5 percent of the worldwide business jet fleet changed ownership via resale retail transactions, making it the best performing quarter for 2011, slightly edging the fourth quarter of 2010 (2.4 percent).

“The past two years have been marked by slow improvements, often interrupted by periods of leveling off and even setbacks. It would be nice to see a full calendar year of uninterrupted improvements, even if small in magnitude,” said Amstat executive vice president Tom Benson. “A year like that might give us a reason to use the word ‘good’ again when describing business aviation market conditions.”

by Chad Trautvetter,1.19.2012  AINALERTS