The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) reported on 29 May 2026 that general aviation deliveries in the first quarter of 2026 showed a mixed performance across segments, with piston airplanes increasing while turboprop and business jet shipments declined, and the overall billed value edging up.
The statistics, covering the January–March 2026 period, indicate that deliveries of piston airplanes rose compared with the first quarter of 2025. In contrast, general aviation turboprop deliveries fell over the same comparative period, and business jet deliveries also declined against their first-quarter 2025 levels. Despite these divergent volume trends, the total value of general aviation aircraft billings recorded a slight increase year on year for the quarter.
The data published by GAMA focus on factory shipments and associated billings, distinguishing clearly between piston airplanes, turboprops, business jets and, where reported, helicopters. For this first-quarter 2026 snapshot, only directional changes in each category have been retained, without citing specific unit counts or monetary totals, to ensure consistency with the verified information available from the association’s release.
GAMA, which assembles most major general aviation manufacturers, compiles and publishes these consolidated delivery and billing statistics on a quarterly basis, making this Q1 2026 report a closely watched indicator of early-year demand trends across key general aviation segments.