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:

Modernizing aging turboprops and jets with new avionics is crucial due to outdated equipment, high repair costs, and a lack of modern capabilities and automation, necessitating significant budget allocation.
Garmin dominates the turbine retrofit market, offering comprehensive solutions such as the GFC 600 autopilot, G5000 for business jets, and the G1000 with Autothrottle and Emergency Autoland for King Airs, bringing older aircraft to contemporary standards.
While other options like Avidyne Atlas FMS and Collins Pro Line Fusion also exist, buyers should prepare for substantial costs and downtime for upgrades; purchasing an already-modernized aircraft, though often at a premium, can be a more practical approach.

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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.