It’s the dog days of mid-summer and the business aviation industry seems to be cruising along at low-idle power. Traffic is down and major industry announcements have slowed to a trickle. But beneath the surface, there is still plenty going on.
Take June’s business aviation activity report for North America and the Caribbean from Argus TrakPaq. Flying hours sagged half a percent year-over-year, with both Part 135 and Part 91 operations affected. Fractional activity was the rising-star outlier, however, increasing by 5 percent over last June, with the most improvement in the light and midsize jet categories in this operating segment. Business aircraft flying in Europe is similarly stuck in the doldrums, as reported by WingX, which blamed Germany's economic slowdown and “the UK’s Brexit chaos.”
On the new-aircraft certification front, Gulfstream has reason to crow, with its new-generation, ultra-long-range G600 finally receiving its FAA nod in late June (see story above). At press time, Textron Aviation was still waiting for certification of its Cessna Citation Longitude.
The eVTOL buzz continues to hum with increasing volume, while news of progress toward civil supersonic flight has shifted to regulatory channels. In fact, new rules have emerged on live tests for emerging supersonic aircraft (see page 8).
Meanwhile, workforce concerns continue to fester in the background, and industry trade groups are reaching out and laying plans to address the shortfall by attracting young candidates. Training providers and educational institutions are leading the charge, and Textron Aviation has stepped up to prime the pump with a program to attract young pilots (see page 32).
The overall pace is expected to pick up after Labor Day as we head toward the NBAA convention in October.
Comments
C-David
July 19, 2019 - 3:22pm
Re: "The overall pace is expected to pick up after Labor Day"
What is the basis for this prognostic?
I'm not denying it is good. I would like a reason to embrace it.