Garmin Remains Major Player in Display and Autopilot Upgrades for Turbines

Avionics choices for many aging turbines are generally more limited than for pistons because of fewer STCs.

Friday, July 18, 2025 at 08:00 AM ET

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Work closely with a trusted avionics pro before committing to any aircraft that has aging avionics and get a proposal for upgrading it so you can budget accordingly. [Adobe Stock]

Key Takeaways:

Aging turboprop and jet aircraft often require significant, costly avionics upgrades due to outdated systems, limited modern features, and repair challenges.
Garmin leads the aftermarket with comprehensive solutions like the G5000 and G1000 (featuring Autoland and Autothrottle for King Airs), which fully modernize older airframes and enhance safety and capabilities.
Beyond Garmin, options like Avidyne's Atlas FMS and Collins Pro Line Fusion offer targeted upgrades for specific older turbine models, improving navigation, ADS-B compliance, and pilot interface.
Prospective buyers should critically assess existing avionics and either budget substantially for upgrades and downtime (which can exceed $600,000 for full suites) or consider purchasing an aircraft that has already been modernized.

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For buyers stepping up into the world of turboprops and jets, a significant part of the transition might be learning an unfamiliar avionics suite. And for many aging aircraft that never had avionics upgrades, it means spending big on repairs and dealing with downtime, while sacrificing modern capabilities and automation that can increase workload.

This means buying the airplane right so there’s money—lots of it— left in the budget for major panel upgrades. But the choices for avionics in many aging turbines are generally more limited than for pistons because of fewer STC approvals. Still, the market for avionics systems for turbine airplanes is dominated by Garmin, which earns regulatory approval at impressive rates. From a capability standpoint, Garmin’s full-suite avionics that are now standard in many new jets and turboprops are trickling down to the aftermarket, and that’s bringing the capabilities of older turboprops and jets to a high level.