Report: General aviation shipments drop in first quarter

Textron Aviation saw its total aircraft deliveries slip by two airplanes, while Bombardier Learjet deliveries increased by three airplanes between the first quarters of 2014 and 2015.

That’s according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association’s shipment report for the first quarter of 2015.

GAMA’s figures show total worldwide airplane shipments fell 15 percent from the first quarter of 2014.

“The first-quarter numbers show that, while our industry has been gaining traction over the past few years, we face some renewed headwinds in several regions of the world, including Asia, parts of Europe, and Latin America,” Pete Bunce, GAMA president and CEO, said in a news release Friday.

Total airplane shipments worldwide — including business jets, turboprops and piston-engine airplanes — were 441 in the first quarter of 2015, compared with 520 in the same quarter in 2014.

The worldwide shipment decline was steepest among piston-engine airplanes, 20 percent, followed by business jets at 14 percent and turboprops at 8 percent, the GAMA report said.

Textron Aviation delivered 33 Citation business jets in the first quarter of 2015, compared with 35 in the first quarter of 2014, the report said.

Bombardier delivered nine Learjet 70/75s in the first quarter of 2015, three more than it delivered in the same quarter in 2014.

Textron Aviation’s turboprop deliveries totaled 38, compared with 46 in first quarter 2014, the report said.

But deliveries of Textron’s piston aircraft increased by eight airplanes, from 43 in the first quarter of 2014 to 51 in the first quarter of 2015, the report said.

Textron Aviation’s total aircraft billings were $542 million in the first quarter of 2015, compared with $584 million in the same quarter of 2014.

Billing totals for Bombardier Learjet were not available from the report.

This story was originally published May 8, 2015 at 5:20 PM with the headline "Report: General aviation shipments drop in first quarter."