OSHblog: Competition In Avionics

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I’ve always viewed competition in aviation as a relative thing. In new aircraft costing upward of $400,000, price breaks of a few percentage points don’t really amount to much and matter more to the big-box flight schools who now seem to be the main buyers of piston singles than to individual owners. In any case, the competitive leg up on those sales often comes from after-the-sale sweeteners like factory support or training programs.

For individual owners, the competitive environment is better for things likes accessories, especially headsets, where the market is closer to being over-served. For the past decade, avionics haven’t been impressively competitive because Garmin essentially owned the market. It had or was willing to develop a product for every niche and it also had the marketing apparatus to make these products pay off the investment of creating them.

Although I never thought I’d see it, that’s now changing. Avidyne has awoken with a range of products that are selling well, Aspen came on the scene with its Evolution EFDs aimed at the aftermarket and there are more ADS-B choices than one person—at least me—can possibly keep track of. But here again, Garmin is dominating thanks to product choices and marketing. The big avionics story at AirVenture was Garmin’s announcement that its G5 EFIS, heretofore developed for the experimental market, will now be approved by AML-STC for more than 500 certified aircraft models.

My reaction is twofold: That didn’t take long and what took them so long? Let me explain. In April, EAA’s Jack Pelton strode up to the podium at Sun ‘n Fun and stunned us by announcing it had partnered with Dynon to develop an STC for a limited number of models to install the D10 EFIS in certified airplanes. You coulda heard a pin drop in that tent. My colleague Larry Anglisano and I both bet that Garmin would respond with their own program and roll it out by AirVenture. Sure ‘nuff.

Now, is the race on between EAA and Garmin to extend this kind of favorable trickle-down product development to other products, of which Garmin has quite a catalog? We can only hope. Although this won’t reset the cost of flying to 1975 levels, or even 1995, it’s a positive development that does help owners in the bottom tier who want to upgrade their basic certified airplanes but can’t afford it because the manufacturers have lost sight of affordability. This trend, if it has legs, promises to at least level the cost curve, if not bend it downward. Well played, Mr. Pelton.

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