As AVweb reported Thursday, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) delivered a bushel of bad news (along with some bright spots in piston single sales) in its annual report, and the phones started ringing in corporate communications offices. “Cessna’s 2003 production numbers and market share are lower than 2002’s due to our revised Citation delivery schedule,” Cessna spokeswoman Jessica Meyers said in a statement. The company sold a third fewer Citations in 2003 (196) than it did in 2002. Cessna’s order books are fat (493 planes worth $3.28 billion) for its CJ3, Mustang, XLS and Sovereign models, aircraft that are still under development. Another big name, New Piper, bucked the overall recovery trend in piston aircraft and saw a 20-percent drop in sales. Raytheon actually sold four more airplanes (263) in 2003 than in 2002. Raytheon CEO Jim Schuster said an emphasis on quality made the difference. Meanwhile, New Piper spokesman Mark Miller said, “We expect sales to be roughly flat this year but we feel cautiously optimistic about the direction of the industry.” Some of Raytheon’s sales came at Cessna’s expense. Just for fun, we thought we’d have a look at what the mandarins of aviation were saying at the same time last year and things haven’t changed much. “Although the numbers are down, this is not the biggest one-year decrease our industry has ever experienced,” said then-GAMA Chairman Bill Boisture.
Piston Sales Up, But The Big Picture’s Still Grim
Key Takeaways:
- The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) reported an overall downturn in general aviation production for 2003, though piston single sales showed some bright spots.
- Cessna's 2003 production and market share decreased due to revised Citation delivery schedules, but the company has substantial order backlogs for new models in development.
- New Piper experienced a significant 20% drop in sales, contrasting with Raytheon, which increased its sales in 2003, partly by gaining market share from competitors like Cessna.
- Despite the industry's struggles and declining numbers, manufacturers maintained a cautiously optimistic outlook for the future direction and recovery of general aviation.
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