The general aviation industry had shown steady progress toward recovery but fell into what appeared to be another stagnant period. The industry hit a speed bump but will continue on the road to recovery.

The general aviation industry (defined by privately owned aircraft including business jets, helicopters and piston airplanes) experienced a much steeper nosedive compared to the rest of the economy.

So far the recovery has been biased towards those that make the largest of business jets. This has been through a combination of supply and demand (there have been fewer big cabin jets produced) and the fact that entities who buy $40 million and up jets have more financial wherewithal to survive and move on from a downturn. The small and mid-size cabin producers have seen some sporadic activity, but are still recovering from an oversupply of product on the used market and tight credit markets for their customers – the majority of whom rely on financing in this segment.

While the recovery has been moving in the right direction, a couple of factors have surfaced which has caused the industry to take a brief breather - namely, the strengthening dollar and the European financial crisis.

This slowdown will be shorter lasting and less pronounced than the big recessionary downturn of 2008-2009. But its timing is almost ironic. Many of the companies affected were just beginning to show improvement after an extended period of austerity. Now their sales have lagged again (though not all of them will admit it), and you may find evidence of this in things like reduced plant activity and possibly even furloughs this summer. But then the recovery should resume on a steadier, upward trend.