Welcome to Orlando, Florida... home to this year's National
Business Aviation Association Conference and Trade Show. These are
some of the recent NBAA show headlines for Monday, October 6th,
2008.
There's no denying these are different
times in the world of business aviation... just as these are
difficult times for the world at large. In stark contrast to the
festive atmosphere seen over the past three years at NBAA, the news
from the first day of this year's event was subdued by comparison,
yet still cautiously optimistic... a tone NBAA President Ed Bolen
says reflects a general uneasiness of the today's
marketplace...
Continuing a somewhat-quirky NBAA
tradition, Sunday's 'sneak-peak' press conference schedule was
jam-packed with companies hoping to get their announcements out
ahead of the show's formal opening ceremonies on Monday.
Gulfstream was among the first to show
their hand, announcing its new G250 "super mid-size" jet. Based on
the existing G200 -- itself a variant of the old IAI Astra -- the
G250 appears aimed at soothing those naysayers who may quibble over
whether the aircraft is a "true" Gulfstream product...
While Dassault Falcon didn't have a
brand-new plane to announce, the company did reveal its plans for
an upgrade package to its popular EASy flight deck, including a new
synthetic vision option.
But Dassault's Olivier Villa spent most
of his time talking about the recently-introduced 900LX... telling
attendees the aircraft will build on Dassault's already-impressive
lineup of fuel-efficient business aircraft when it enters the
market in mid-2010...
Embraer's Luís Carlos Affonso provided an update on the
Brazilian planemaker's rapidly-expanding line of business
aircraft.
Starting with just one offering when
Embraer launched its "executive jets" line in 2005, today the
company has five new business jets in various stages of
development, and a sixth in production. Embraer expects to win
certification for its smallest Phenom 100 very-light jet -- and its
largest plane, the Embraer-190-based Lineage 1000 -- within coming
weeks.
Affonso also weighed in on the current state of the global
economy... and how Embraer expects those declining fortunes to
affect the market for high-dollar business aircraft. He told
attendees deliveries over the next two years should be healthy, as
supply catches up with demand -- but after that, the market may
endure a three-year reversal in fortunes until it rebounds...