General aviation sales to grow over next decade
January 2, 2013, 01:54 pm
General aviation aircraft sales are poised to grow, according to a recent industry report.
According to the Aerospace Industry Association’s 2012 Year-End Review & Forecast, sales of general aviation aircrafts are expected to increase over the next five years, primarily due to an increasing business in the aviation sector and demand in China. The National Business Aviation Association anticipates that, over the next 10 years, larger business jets will account for 40 percent of all general aviation aircraft sales. In addition, 20 percent of all those deliveries will go to China, up from the current 7 percent of deliveries. The amount of money in general aviation sales is forecast to reach $10.8 billion in 2013, up nearly 14 percent from 2012.
Congress recently agreed to a compromising bill to avert the fiscal cliff. The bill is expected to create $600 billion in new revenue over the next 10 years, but it merely puts off sequestration talks for a later date, which will have a significant impact on aviation.
Norman Mineta, former Secretary of Transportation, presented a study in August looking to sway Congress to avoid sequestration at all costs.
He laid out a reauthorization plan which looked to modernize and reform programs to certify new aircraft, including unmanned aircraft in civil airspace. Mineta said that if the sequestration cuts take place the aviation sector will destroy what they have been working so hard to develop in recent years.
"Congress may allow the nation to lose the resources that are needed to make this progress a reality," Mineta said. "Sequestration will simply evaporate what Congress and the FAA so painstakingly planned to do in the next four years. Sequestration simply makes no sense."
Mineta added that initial sequestration cuts would cause 246 airport control towers to be closed and more than 2,000 air traffic controllers, 2,000 TSA screeners and 1,600 customs inspection officers to lose their jobs.
"We're here today because our air transportation system, the envy of the world, is about to fall victim to a political meat cleaver called sequestration," Mineta said. "If I had one message to give to the leaders of both parties in Congress it would be this: Read this report."
While sales in general aviation show financial stability within the industry, uncertainty from sequestration still looms in 2013. Pilots looking to control their own finances should look into pilot life insurance.
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