Private And Business Aviation Continues To Thrive

Press release from Beverly Regional Airport:

December 29, 2020

Covid-19 has taken a toll on the business aviation industry particularly in aircraft manufacturing and maintenance. But for the jet travelers, and private aviation…these segments have remained mostly unscathed.

Shutting borders, sheltering in place, and all the wide sweeping restrictions have made it incredibly difficult on the industry as whole. However, private aviation has in large part remained open for business.

For those who needed to charter an aircraft, access hours on their jet card, or use their fractional-share aircraft, there has been no interruption in availability or service. Also, for those owning their own aircraft, the National Airspace System has remained fully accessible.

What Private Aviation Did Right

Not an industry to “wait and see”, private aviation quickly and thoroughly developed wide sweeping and effective safety protocols to protect everyone on the ground and in the air.

The industry also wisely secured financial and regulatory assistance from Congress and the FAA to keep business aviation and the airways open.

While general aviation flights as a whole are down slightly, the industry has rallied to proactively control its own fate. The bottom line is flying private is still practical and magical, and a fantastic choice to get somewhere quickly and efficiently. A fact that remains true whether we are in a pandemic or not.

No one could have ever predicted the pandemic and it’s far reaching circumstances. However, business aviation quickly and collectively mobilized to respond quickly and intelligently to deal with the crisis and control its own fate.

Check out these impressive numbers and trends on aircraft production and deliveries from Wichita Business Journal.

While deliveries of business jets and turboprop aircraft worldwide are down through the first nine months of the year, the piston aircraft segment has actually grown from where it was at this point in 2019.

According to new data from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, deliveries of piston aircraft, like the Cessna Skyhawk 172 built by Textron Aviation, were up 1.4% year over year to 889 after a big third-quarter jump.

The three months ending Sept. 30 saw 392 piston aircraft deliveries, up 30% year over year to offset segment declines through the first half of the year.

And it was the Skyhawk, which the locally based division of Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) builds at its plant in Independence, that was the primary driver of the increase.

GAMA’s data shows Textron Aviation delivered 94 of the popular trainer and personal aircraft in the third quarter, up 235% from the same period last year. Total piston aircraft deliveries for the company were 121 in the third quarter, dominated by the Skyhawk handovers mainly with orders from flight schools.

As always, we would love to help you in any way possible. If you have questions or concerns, or want to learn more about any aspect of our operations, please contact us today.

This press release was produced by Beverly Regional Airport. The views expressed are the author's own.