April 1, 2013
A first-ever industry report on the total market value of the avionics industry includes data that demonstrates the economic benefits of general aviation, including business aviation, for local communities.
According to the 2012 Avionics Market Report, released on March 26 by the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) in Las Vegas, NV during the group’s annual convention, combined sales of original equipment manufacturer and retrofit avionics and related equipment, amounted to a staggering $6.279 billion last year. The total doesn’t include repair and overhaul sales totals, subscription services or extended warranty sales.
“Never before has there been a true capture of the dollar size of the general aviation electronics market,” said AEA President Paula Derks in announcing the results of the group’s inaugural survey of 19 avionics manufacturers. “Not only will this report be useful to our membership in strategic planning and examining market share, but it will be valuable information to promote our industry to the aviation community, investors and most importantly, when informing our elected officials of the value of the industry to the global economy.”
The market report also reinforces the value of business aviation in creating jobs, which has been central to the No Plane No Gain advocacy campaign, co-sponsored by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and NBAA. Since its launch, the No Plane No Gain program has focused on educating policymakers and opinion leaders about the industry’s value to citizens, companies and communities across the U.S.
“We welcome this report from the Aircraft Electronics Association, which underscores a reality we’ve been highlighting for some time: The manufacture of avionics for business aircraft, means jobs, jobs, jobs,” NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen said. “These manufacturers – many of whom are headquartered in the United States and have production facilities here – provide state-of-the-art systems that fly in aircraft around the world. This job-creation value of aviation-electronics manufacture is on display every year at NBAA’s Convention, and we’re pleased to see it reflected in this report as well.”
While the inaugural Avionics Market Value report focused solely on the dollar value of the industry’s total sales in 2012, the AEA stated that future reports will break down the cumulative figures into domestic and international sales, fixed-wing versus rotorcraft and airplane categories, among other criteria.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.