The Aircraft Electronics Association has released its third-quarter report for 2019, and the association reports a nearly 15% increase over third-quarter 2018 figures for the retrofit and forward-fit avionics market for business and general aviation, and a 14.3% increase over the year-to-date figures from 2018. The participating companies reported more than $2.2 billion in combined avionics sales, through the third quarter. Total estimated sales were $2.2877 billion, taking into account the entire market.
The 2019 Avionics Market Report builds on the first such analysis conducted and delivered by AEA beginning in 2013. The association polls member companies that opt to share confidentially their sales figures both in the areas of retrofit—for installations in existing aircraft—and forward-fit, for new aircraft as installed by the aircraft manufacturer. The totals do not include repairs and overhauls, or warranty work.
More than 52% of the YTD totals came from the retrofit market, and nearly 75% of total sales transpired in North America (U.S. and Canada). “The business and general aviation avionics industry has now seen an increase in year-over-year sales for 11 consecutive quarters,” said AEA President and CEO Mike Adamson. “As we approach nearly three years with steadily increasing sales, I’m encouraged with the upward trend as industry looks to move beyond the Federal Aviation Administration’s ADS-B Out deadline of New Year’s Day 2020.”
The ADS-B mandate surely has affected the last two years of sales, with the largest year-over-year jump occurring between 2017 and 2018, with a 17.3% increase in total sales, with a roughly $400 million increase in retrofit sales between those years. With the majority of the North American fleet equipped by the end of 2019 (according to figures released at NBAA-BACE 2019 from JetNet IQ), it remains to be seen whether the pace will continue.
