May 2021 brought three news items of interest to anyone paying attention to how the general and business aviation industries are faring as the Covid-19 pandemic winds down in the U.S. Taken together, the top story seems to be cautious optimism tempered by a healthy dose of reality and an understanding that the pandemic may usher in fundamental changes in the ways we travel.
First-quarter delivery results reported by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) show a welcome increase when compared to the same period of 2020, when the pandemic’s effects first began to be felt. Deliveries of new airplanes in 2020 were off by more than nine percent; 1Q 2021 numbers exceeded them, but not the subsequent quarters of 2020.
