Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Gulfstream holds to 17 G650's deliveries by years end

This is a very interesting article on the G650 and it's delivery schedule that was forwarded to me by a close aviation friend......enjoy!

Gulfstream still believe they can deliver 17 G650s to customers this year, Gulfstream parent company General Dynamics Chairman And CEO Jay Johnson has said during a Q2 2012 earnings conference call.

Johnson later added some colour to the G650 certification process by saying that ‘nearly’ all the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) check flights have been completed, and that the program was still on track to achieve a full FAA type certificate during the 3rd quarter.

Assuming Gulfstream do receive the full type certificate in the 3rd quarter customer deliveries would begin shortly afterwards, although Johnson did admit that the majority of the 17 customer deliveries would fall into the 4th quarter.

Gulfstream G650 msn 6020 / N520GA in the static display at EBACE 2012

Speaking about orders so far this year, Johnson commented that things had been slow, but this was due to deal closure lead times being longer than expected, but the situation would hopefully be rectified in Q3 & Q4. 60% of G650 orders this year have been from North American clients, with a noticeable slow down in orders from Asia.

This slow down could be attributed to long lead times for new aircraft deliveries. Currently if you were to purchase a G650 you’d not be able to get your hands on the keys for 5 years, whilst with the G550 you’d be waiting 24 months, and the G450 18 months.

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