The US ground support equipment market was valued at US$ 246.2 million in 2019 and is projected to reach US$ 327.3 million by 2027; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.7% from 2020 to 2027.
The availability of developed airport infrastructure significantly drives the growth of the business aviation sector. According to the President of the National Business Aviation Association, there are around 5,000 public service airports and additional 13,000 airfields, landing strips, and private sites across the US and serving businesses, including private owners and fly-in-fly-out mining companies. Another key factor driving the growth of the business aviation industry is the favorable tax legislation. According to legislation introduced in the Trump administration in 2017, a company can write off 100% of tax against CAPEX, including a new or used business aircraft, in the first year of acquisition. Moreover, as per the Cirium fleets data published in September 2019, the US had 19,137 operational business jets and turboprops, signifying 61% of the total global share. The presence of the highly-developed business aviation sector in the US is boosting the demand for ground support equipment across the country.
The US ground support equipment market is segmented on the basis of equipment, power source, and application. Based on equipment, the market is segmented into tugs and tractors, ground power unit, hydraulic power unit, aircraft jacks, belt loader, de-iceing vehicles, and others. The ground power unit segment accounted for the largest market share in 2019. Ground power unit are used to provide the power to aircraft stationed at the airport. Ground powered units, in some scenarios, are built into the jetway to power the aircraft easily. Moreover, the ground power units are skid mounted, towable trailer mounted, or self-propelled systems. The traditional ground power units are gas or diesel powered, however market players are now offering battery power ground power unit. The gas or diesel power ground power unit are compact in size. However, their maintenance cost is quiet high than battery powered. The battery power ground power unit makes less noise. The adoption of electric ground power unit is surging owing to the growing concern over the carbon emission and less maintenance cost, which is subsequently propelling the growth of US ground equipment market.
The US is the worst-hit country due to the COVID-19 outbreak in North America. Thousands of infected individuals are facing severe health conditions across the country as well as continuous growth in the number of confirmed cases had led the government to impose lockdown across the nation’s borders in last few months. The airports across the country are experiencing deflation in revenue owing to the restrictions on air travelling for regular passengers. The adoption rate of technologies and equipment among airports is decent in the US, and its demand has shrunken to a drastic level owing to the closure of airports. This scenario is hindering the business aviation US ground support equipment market. The US military supply chain is also disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the production end, ground support equipment manufacturing activities are slowed down.
A few major players operating in the US ground equipment market are Mallaghan; AERO Specialties, Inc.; AGSE LLC; Aviation Ground Equipment Corp.; ITW GSE ApS.; JBT Corporation; Meyer Hydraulics Corporation; Textron Ground Support Equipment Inc.; Towflexx GmbH; and Tronair Inc.
The overall US ground equipment market size has been derived using both primary and secondary sources. To begin the research process, exhaustive secondary research has been conducted using internal and external sources to obtain qualitative and quantitative information related to the market. The process also serves the purpose of obtaining an overview and forecast for the US ground equipment market with regard to all the segments. Also, primary interviews were conducted with industry participants and commentators to validate dataas well as to gain more analytical insights into the topic. The participants of this process include industry experts such as VPs, business development managers, market intelligence managers, and national sales managers, along with external consultants such as valuation experts, research analysts, and key opinion leaders, specializing in the US ground equipment market.