TOP 100
Special Report
1 Boeing
The 787 is one of three fast-selling commercial airliner lines for Boeing
2015 rank: 1
Revenue: $96.1 billion (+5.9%)
Profit: $5.18 billion (-5%)
Margin: 5.4%
2 Airbus
2015 rank: 2
Revenue: $71.9 billion (+6.2%)
Profit: $4.53 billion (+2%)
Margin: 6.3%
There was a time when Airbus Group – then
known as EADS – was desperate to “rebal-
ance” its business away from the domi-
nance of its commercial aircraft division.
Today, with the helicopter sector in choppy
water, domestic defence budgets tight and
its A400M programme in trouble, airliners
are more important than ever to Europe’s
biggest aerospace company, with global
demand showing no sign of letting up.
Commercial aircraft made up 69.5% of
Airbus Group’s revenues in 2015, and 56%
of its EBIT. That said, it was its other divi-
sions that performed more strongly in terms
of profit growth, with returns at defence &
space rising by 82% on static revenues com-
pared with 2014. Although commercial air-
32 | Flight International | 13-19 September 2016
Boeing
The world’s biggest aircraft maker saw profits
slip on slightly higher – and record – revenues in
2015, with the stronger dollar helping it stretch
its lead over second-placed Airbus, which at
Airbus received certification for the A320neo in late 2015
craft saw revenues go up by 8.5%, profitability
fell by 14%. Those figures, however, were
skewed by one-off transactions.
Although Airbus’s order intake on the com-
mercial airliner side slowed to 1,080 from the
eye-watering 1,456 net orders in 2014, the
backlog continued to grow and finished the
year 19% higher in revenue terms. Airbus
Group finished the year with a record order
book, tipping over €1 trillion ($1.13 trillion) for
the first time.
Commenting on the 2015 results, chief ex-
one time looked to threaten its rival’s title.
Boeing’s turnover is now almost $25 billion
higher than its European counterpart.
As with Airbus, Boeing’s commercial
airliner division dominates, with $66 bil-
lion of revenues to $30.4 billion for de-
fence and space, and buoyant demand
for airliners is behind those record reve-
nues. Boeing is producing three pro-
grammes at full tilt – the 737 and the first
two models of the 787 as well as the 777 –
and has the 737 Max, 787-10 and 777X
coming down the line.
Sales at the defence division, although un-
moved from 2014, were “solid” and margins
“healthy”, chief executive Dennis Muilen-
burg said in his assessment of the year.
With a backlog of $489 billion – mainly driv-
en by commercial airliner sales – Boeing looks
set to break the $100 billion turnover mark.
There were some minor setbacks for
Boeing during the year, with charges on the
KC-46 and slow-selling 747-8 programmes,
but they were small beer against the accel-
erating demand for most of its products. As
the company enters its second century this
year, the only way is up.
Airbus
ecutive Tom Enders noted “strong momen-
tum” in defence and space, with a book-to-
bill ratio above one. During the year, Airbus
began delivering the A350 and received
certification for the A320neo.
During the year, Airbus Group sold shares
in Dassault Aviation – its stakeholding a leg-
acy of 1980s French nationalisation – and
said it was acquiring the electronic flightbag
and flight-operations specialist Navtech for
an undisclosed sum. Navtech has revenues
of about $42 million.
flightglobal.com

Lockheed Martin
Increasing F-35 output offset falling
revenues from other programmes
3 Lockheed
Martin
2015 rank: 3
Revenue: $46.1 billion
Profit: $5.44 billion
Margin: 11.8%
Lockheed Martin keeps its now tradition-
al third place in the rankings, largely
treading water in 2015, with turnover up
and profitability down, both marginally.
Its $9 billion acquisition of Sikorsky
from UTC – although coming too late in
the year to significantly boost revenues –
hands another major aircraft brand to the
company, although the helicopter manu-
facturer will join its mission systems and
training division, rather than aeronautics,
which is responsible for its big aircraft
programmes: the C-130J, F-16, F-35 and
C-5 Galaxy sustainment.
Increased C-5 and F-35 deliveries in
2015 compared with the previous year
more than offset slower activity on the C-
130J and F-16 for its aeronautics divi-
sion. While Lockheed’s space systems
and its missiles and fire control divisions
saw turnover fall slightly, mission systems
and training nudged up, with sales from
Sikorsky compensating for slower returns
from its integrated warfare systems and
sensors programmes. Space systems suf-
fered from lower net sales for govern-
ment satellite programmes and the
wind-down or completion of mission so-
lutions programmes.
Lockheed achieved a record backlog
of a shade under $100 billion. This in-
cluded $15.6 billion for Sikorsky. On the
last day of the year it announced con-
tracts for 43 C-130Js from the US gov-
ernment.
flightglobal.com
4 United Technologies
2015 rank: 4
Revenue: $33.1 billion (-8.4%)
Profit: $3 billion (-34%)
Margin: 9.1%
United Technologies’ two aerospace divisions,
Pratt & Whitney and UTAS (Sikorsky was di-
vested to Lockheed Martin during the year)
are assessed for this ranking, with its climate
control and Otis elevators arms excluded.
P&W’s signature product is the PW1000G
geared turbofan engine that will power
much of the new generation of narrowbody
and regional aircraft, but it also includes the
F135 for the Lockheed F-35, the Pratt &
Whitney Canada family of business and
general aviation engines, and its majority
stake in the V2500 engine on the Airbus
A320. Its UTAS division includes the former
Hamilton Sundstrand auxiliary power unit
business and what was Goodrich, maker of
landing gear, wheels and brakes, electric
systems and nacelles.
5 GE Aviation
CFM International
The Leap will power about three-quar-
ters of next-generation narrowbodies
2015 rank: 5
Revenue: $24.7 billion (+2.9%)
Profit: $5.5 billion (+10%)
Margin: 22.3%
General Electric’s GE Aviation division is on
full thrust, thanks mainly to programmes
such as the Boeing 787’s GEnx, the 777’s
GE90, and the CFM56 and its Leap succes-
sor, the power behind about three-quarters
of all narrowbodies in operation and on
order. GE produces the latter two engines
TOP 100
Special Report
While the $9 billion sale of Sikorsky in late
2015 reduced overall turnover, revenues
were also affected by slower sales in both
remaining divisions.
United Technologies will be hoping that
the ramp-up in PW1000G deliveries over
the next few years – together with the lucra-
tive aftermarket contracts it will hope to ac-
company them with – should boost reve-
nues and margins.
Pratt & Whitney
PW1000G family powers several of the
new regional and narrowbody airliners
with partner Safran. Strong airliner demand
means many of these programmes have
been on serious ramp-up.
GE – which has in recent years acquired
Smiths Aerospace in the UK, Avio Aero in
Italy and Walter in the Czech Republic – is
now investing in a general aviation business
alongside its highly successful commercial
and military arms, with the Passport engine
and a new turboprop powerplant being de-
veloped in Europe.
Aviation represents almost a quarter of
GE’s overall industrial revenues (which ex-
clude its Capital business) and is its biggest
segment. It is also highly profitable, notch-
ing up margins of 22% and representing just
over 30% of GE’s industrial profits.
At the Dubai air show in November, GE
Aviation won $17 billion in engine and ser-
vices deals. During the year, it also an-
nounced that it would be powering Textron
Aviation’s new single-engined turboprop,
since disclosed to be the Cessna Denali.
GE Aviation includes other businesses in
areas such as propellers, avionics and en-
gine nacelles.
13-19 September 2016 | Flight International | 33
TOP 100
Special Report
Northrop
6 7
Grumman
US Air Force
A USAF RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV at
an undisclosed Asian air base
2015 rank: 6
Revenue: $23.5 billion (-1.9%)
Profit: $3.08 billion (-6%)
Margin: 13.1%
Northrop Grumman revenues were
down only slightly on the previous year,
with somewhat slower deliveries and the
$75 million impact of a legal settlement
also affecting income. That said, as with
most of the USA’s big defence contrac-
tors, margins remain fairly healthy, at
about 13%.
The company has three main busi-
ness divisions. The biggest – aero-
space systems – is responsible for air-
craft programmes such as the Global
Hawk unmanned air vehicle as well as
radars, countermeasures and targeting
systems. Mission systems focuses on
software for command and control,
while technology services is a logistics
and sustainment provider, working for
the military and other mainly govern-
ment agencies.
One of the biggest coups for North-
rop during the year – winning the con-
tract to supply the US Air Force with 80
to 100 new-generation, stealthy long-
range strike bombers, worth some $80
billion – was not included in the compa-
ny’s backlog because of a legal challenge
by rival Boeing. That action was lifted
earlier this year and development of the
B-21 is resuming.
Northrop says lower deliveries of
some of its spaceflight and restricted
programmes during 2015 were offset
by higher demand for unmanned sys-
tems.
34 | Flight International | 13-19 September 2016
Raytheon
2015 rank: 7
Revenue: $23.2 billion (+1.8%)
Profit: $3.01 billion (-5%)
Margin: 13%
Revenues at Raytheon – which specialises in
missiles, mission systems and cybersecurity
– nudged up by just under 2% for 2015,
marking the year the US defence contractor
says it “returned to growth”.
The company splits its activities into four
divisions. These are: integrated defence
systems (IDS); intelligence, information and
services; missiles systems; and space and
airborne systems.
Perhaps best known for its missiles, its
products include the AIM-9X Sidewinder,
the Small Diameter Bomb II and the ad-
vanced medium-range air-to-air missile
(AMRAAM). It also offers the Patriot missile
defence system, foreign sales of which
helped boost the IDS division.
The company has been trying to reduce
its reliance on the domestic customer by
boosting exports. Last year, 31% of sales
Safran
8 cessor. Safran is a 50% partner in CFM with
2015 rank: 8
Revenue: $17.3 billion (+12.4%)
Profit: $1.89 billion (-18%)
Margin: 10.9%
There were a number of highlights for
France’s biggest aerospace company (ex-
cluding Toulouse-based Airbus) during
2015, with strong output of the CFM Inter-
Dassault Aviation
Dassault Rafales – powered by the
Snecma M88 – fly over the Pyramids
US Air Force/Lockheed Martin
The F-35 packs a punch with
Raytheon’s AIM-9X Sidewinder
were international – a record, says Raytheon.
In its results presentation, Raytheon exec-
utives highlighted three growth areas for its
products: the Middle East, where regional
tensions are driving demand for defence
and detection systems; Asia Pacific, where
territorial disputes and economic rivalries
are encouraging countries to upgrade their
defences; and Europe, where there is a
greater interest in integrated missile de-
fence systems, it maintained.
Raytheon finished 2015 with a backlog
of $34.7 billion, an increase of $1.1 billion
over 2014.
national CFM56 and orders for its Leap suc-
GE. There were commitments for more than
2,100 of both engine types in 2015 and the
close of the year also saw the certification of
the Leap-1A for the Airbus A320neo.
On the defence side, agreements from
Egypt and Qatar to acquire the Dassault Ra-
fale bode well for Safran, which supplies the
fighter’s engine and several key systems. A
downside was the 18-month delay to the
Silvercrest engine for the Dassault Aviation
Falcon 5X business jet.
Our figures – which exclude Safran’s
small, up-for-sale security business – show a
double-digit increase in turnover, but a size-
able decline in profits, partly due to Silver-
crest-related costs (Safran took a one-off hit
of about $730 million).
Safran has a strong position across a
number of sectors as one of the world’s big-
gest two suppliers of landing gear and a
major player in helicopter engines, nacelles
and electrical systems.
Chief executive Philippe Petitcolin said
Safran “met all its targets” in 2015, with pro-
duction rates “escalated to record levels in
many areas”.
flightglobal.com

9 BAE Systems
2015 rank: 11
Revenue: $14.5 billion (+14.1%)
Profit: n/a
Margin: 14.7%
Aerospace represents 53% of the revenues
of UK defence champion BAE Systems, and
the company saw those increase substan-
tially during 2015. BAE continued to benefit
from its strong links with the Gulf, particular-
ly Saudi Arabia, where it is the lead contrac-
tor for the kingdom’s Eurofighter Typhoons.
BAE also inked a contract with the Saudis
for 22 more Hawk training aircraft.
An uncertain global outlook always bene-
fits companies such as BAE, which has long-
standing relationships with its key custom-
ers. Chairman Sir Roger Carr said in his
review of the year: “Undoubtedly, in 2015,
defence became an increasingly important
priority for many countries as the risk from
terrorism and military aggression continued
to grow. In this context, the nature of our re-
lationships as a strategic supplier to the
governments of the UK, US, Kingdom of
The former AgustaWestland helicopter unit is one of three main businesses
Leonardo
10
2015 rank: 9
Revenue: $14.5 billion (+1.8%)
Profit: $986 million (+48%)
Margin: 6.8%
flightglobal.com
Saudi Arabia, which operates the Typhoon, has long been a vital market for BAE
Saudi Arabia and Australia were clearly raised
in importance and tempo.”
As well as its stakes in the Typhoon and Pa-
navia Tornado programmes, and its 37.5%
holding in the four-nation missile house MBDA,
BAE manufactures defence avionics, continues
Leonardo
After years of corporate travails and attempts
at restructuring, Finmeccanica – which became
Leonardo earlier this year – had a solid enough
2015, with turnover up slightly and its first posi-
tive bottom line since 2010. Following a painful
five-year process to offload loss-making rail
and energy divisions and concentrate on aero-
space and defence, the Italian corporation en-
TOP 100
Special Report
BAE Systems
to develop unmanned air vehicles and re-
tains a legacy commercial avionics business,
although since ending regional jet produc-
tion in 2001 and selling its 20% stake in Air-
bus a few years later, it has largely exited the
airliner market.
joyed a hike of nearly 50% in profit.
Leonardo consists of three main busi-
nesses: its now-renamed AgustaWestland
rotorcraft division; the former Alenia Aer-
macchi aircraft manufacturing and aero-
structures operations, including its 50%
share in ATR; and defence electronics. In the
latter category, DRS, a US defence compa-
ny acquired just before the post-2008
budget squeeze and which had looked like
a massive strategic error, turned in a modest
profit. However, its performance still has a
way to go to justify the $4.5 billion price
paid in 2008.
Finmeccanica’s troubles date to a disas-
trous 2011 that saw a net loss of more than
€2.3 billion, with heavy losses in power, road
and rail and a €750 million writedown
against defects in fuselage sections and
horizontal stabilisers supplied for the Boe-
ing 787. Subsequent woes included allega-
tions that AgustaWestland paid to secure a
lucrative sale of VVIP helicopters to India.
Chief executive Mauro Moretti said 2015
marked “the end of an era” for Finmeccani-
ca, not just in terms of its old identity, but its
identification with mismanagement, after
massive writedowns on its power and rail
businesses and its 787 contract.
13-19 September 2016 | Flight International | 35
TOP 100
Special Report

Top 100 Aerospace companies by dollar revenue 2015 1-50

Rank Company name Movement in Sales Revenue Operating Op profit Note
rankings 2015 millions change profit 2015 change
from 2014 from 2014 millions from 2014

1 Boeing 0 $96,100 6% $5,180 -5%

2 Airbus 0 $71,900 6% $4,530 2%
3 Lockheed Martin 0 $46,130 1% $5,440 -3% Lockheed Martin closed acquisition of Sikorsky at end of year
4 United Technologies 0 $33,100 -8% $3,000 -34% Pratt & Whitney, UTAS and Sikorsky until latter's sale to Lockheed Martin
5 General Electric 0 $24,700 3% $5,500 10% GE Aviation business only
6 Northrop Grumman 0 $23,500 -2% $3,080 -4%
7 Raytheon 0 $23,200 2% $3,010 -5%
8 Safran 0 $17,300 12% $1,890 -18% Excludes security business
9 BAE Systems 2 $14,500 14% n/a n/a Sales by domain given as 53% air
10 Leonardo (Finmeccanica) -1 $14,500 2% $986 48% Excludes residual rail business sold during 2015
11 Rolls-Royce -1 $13,700 1% $1,840 -8%
12 Honeywell 0 $12,300 4% n/a n/a Honeywell Aerospace but excluding Transportation Systems
13 L-3 Communications 2 $10,500 -5% $475 -53%
14 Bombardier -1 $9,890 -6% -$5,300 n/a Excludes rail transportation business
15 Textron 1 $9,800 -6% $929 2% Textron Aviation, Bell and Textron Systems
16 General Dynamics -2 $8,850 2% $1,710 6%
17 Mitsubishi 2 $8,540 2% $663 55% Commercial aviation and integrated defence and space businesses
18 Precision Castparts 0 $6,910 -1% n/a n/a
19 Spirit AeroSystems 1 $6,640 -2% $863 144%
20 Thales 1 $6,000 7% $578 3%
21 Embraer 1 $5,930 -6% $332 -39%
22 United Aircraft -5 $5,810 20% -$1,190 n/a Includes Irkut
23 Zodiac 1 $5,500 18% $325 -46%
24 AVIC 4 $5,460 1% $247 -15%
25 Rockwell Collins 1 $5,240 -5% $1,020 n/a
26 Alcoa -3 $5,130 25% n/a n/a
27 MTU Aero Engines -2 $4,950 13% $430 16%
28 Dassault Aviation -1 $4,660 14% $403 2%
29 IHI 0 $4,130 15% $482 48%
30 Harris 3 $3,910 8% $878 5%
31 Triumph Group -1 $3,890 0% -$1,090 n/a
32 GKN Aerospace 0 $3,820 12% $445 5% Includes two months' trading of Fokker
33 Israel Aerospace Industries -2 $3,710 -3% $47 -67%
34 Orbital ATK 1 $3,170 9% $232 -23%
35 Kawasaki -1 $2,910 8% $377 26%
36 B/E Aerospace 1 $2,730 5% $452 18%
37 TransDigm 4 $2,710 14% $1,700 16%
38 Hindustan Aeronautics -2 $2,580 6% $501 1%
39 Korea Aerospace Industries 4 $2,570 25% $253 77%
40 Panasonic Avionics - $2,550 1% n/a n/a
41 Cobham -2 $2,520 9% n/a n/a Excludes maritime business
42 Elbit Systems -4 $2,450 -5% n/a n/a
43 Parker Hannifin -1 $2,260 1% $299 10%
44 MDA 1 $2,120 1% $221 6%
45 Meggitt -1 $2,110 9% n/a n/a
46 Moog 5 $1,910 -3% $192 -11%
47 CAE -1 $1,880 12% $280 10% Excludes non-aviation businesses
48 Eaton -1 $1,810 -3% $310 14% Eaton Aerospace
49 Saab -1 $1,750 20% n/a n/a
50 Aerojet Rocketdyne 4 $1,710 7% n/a n/a

36 | Flight International | 13-19 September 2016 flightglobal.com

 TOP 100
Special Report

Top 100 Aerospace companies by dollar revenue 2015 51-100

Rank Company name Movement in Sales Revenue Operating Op profit Note
rankings 2015 millions change profit 2015 change
from 2014 from 2014 millions from 2014

51 Hexcel 4 $1,620 2% n/a n/a

52 Esterline 0 $1,600 -1% n/a n/a
53 ST Engineering 0 $1,520 1% $162 -15%
54 Allegheny Technologies 3 $1,510 5% n/a n/a
55 Liebherr 1 $1,360 4% n/a n/a Figures for aerospace and transportation division
56 Fuji Heavy Industries 2 $1,190 -2% $156 34%
57 Diehl Aerosystems 2 $1,180 8% n/a n/a
58 Pilatus 3 $1,170 -4% $199 -5%
59 Woodward 6 $1,160 7% $188 18%
60 Daher 0 $1,160 7% n/a n/a
61 LISI 5 $1,040 18% $139 9%
62 Cytec (Solvay Group) 2 $1,030 3% $205 15%
63 RUAG -1 $1,030 -6% $78 23%
64 Heico -1 $1,010 -11% $184 -10%
65 Constellium 6 $960 29% n/a n/a Aerospace rolled products only
66 Amphenol 4 $882 -4% n/a n/a
Unlike last year, excludes instrumentation and digital imaging
67 Teledyne Technologies n/a $868 -1% $111 -7%
businesses
68 Turkish Aerospace Industries 0 $846 5% n/a n/a
69 JAMCO 14 $812 19% $78 30%
70 Ball Aerospace -1 $810 -13% $83 4% Ball aerospace and technologies division
71 Latecoere 3 $794 7% $27 409%
72 ITP -1 $792 9% $71 10%

73 Korean Air Aerospace Division - $780 8% $102 20%

74 Nordam group - $750 3% n/a n/a

75 Magellan Aerospace 0 $745 13% $84 26%
76 Aernnova 0 $725 6% n/a n/a
77 Curtiss-Wright 0 $706 -2% n/a n/a
78 Crane Aerospace & Electronics -1 $691 -1% $145 5%
79 Ultra Electronics 4 $661 2% $33 n/a
80 FACC -2 $655 11% -$26 n/a
81 Indra 1 $604 7% n/a n/a
82 Kaman Aerospace 3 $598 -6% $110 1%
83 Chemring -2 $577 -6% $8 -78%
84 Senior -12 $575 7% $117 -1%
85 SKF 1 $543 7% $51 -7%
86 Ducommun 1 $539 -11% n/a n/a
87 Kongsberg -7 $515 -3% $70 35%
88 Marshall 0 $477 2% $19 -7%
89 Recaro Aircraft Seating - $456 11% n/a n/a
90 Sonaca 1 $425 6% $37 54%
91 Barnes Aerospace - $412 -6% $65 -9% Aerospace business of Barnes Group
92 Garmin 1 $399 3% $111 4%
93 ASCO Industries -4 $394 -10% $0 n/a
94 ITT Corporation - $384 19% $0 n/a
95 LMI Aerospace -3 $375 -3% $21 -335%
96 ShinMaywa - $343 21% $44 13%
97 Martin-Baker -1 $336 11% $95 18%
98 Praxair -4 $323 -12% n/a n/a
99 Heroux-Devtek -4 $319 12% $30 n/a
100 Figeac Aero -1 $281 22% $41 24%

flightglobal.com 13-19 September 2016 | Flight International | 37

TOP 100
Special Report
Rolls-Royce
ment of a new chief executive, Warren East,
11 and the launch of a rigorous cost-cutting
drive on the back of profit warnings. The UK
group plans to reduce its fixed costs by al-
2015 rank: 10 most 40%.
Revenue: $13.7 billion (+0.7%) Rolls-Royce – one of four Western manu-
Profit: $1.84 billion (-8%) facturers in the commercial and military pro-
Margin: 13.4% pulsion market – also has businesses in
marine and industrial, but these have been
Despite a very modest turnover gain, Rolls- excluded from our figures.
Royce slips out of the top 10 for this rank- Although the Derby-based manufacturer is
ing in what the company described as a well positioned in the widebody airliner sec-
year of “transition” marked by the appoint- tor, strong deliveries of Trent 1000s for the
Bombardier
14 2015 rank: 13
Revenue: $9.89 billion
Profit: -$5.3 billion
Margin: -53.6%
For Bombardier, 2015 was another torrid
year financially, with a loss of more than $5
billion on its aerospace business. The
Canadian company now trades under four
divisions – commercial aircraft, business air-
craft, transportation and an aerospace busi-
ness mainly supplying the aircraft production
lines. Ground transport makes up just under
Patrick Cardinal/Bombardier
half of Bombardier’s revenues.
On the business aircraft side, demand began
to soften for its large-cabin and high-margin
Global range and its crucial new Global 7000
programme was further delayed to a 2018 en-
CSeries project is finally bringing in try into service. At the other end of its portfolio,
revenues for troubled Bombardier the company took a $1.2 billion hit for the can-
38 | Flight International | 13-19 September 2016
Boeing 787 were offset by a decline in the
Trent 700 that powers the Airbus A330 and
the Trent 900 for the A380, with both air-
craft programmes slowing. Its Trent 7000
for the A330neo and the Trent XWB for the
A350 were both in build-up during 2015.
Demand for both engines, however, boost-
ed R-R’s order book.
While there were bright spots for the
company in the defence sector, underlying
revenue was 5% lower, partly as a result of
slower helicopter sales, and the order book
fell slightly too.
R-R’s Trent 1000 competes
with the GE Aviation GEnx
Rolls-Royce
to power the Boeing 787
cellation of the Learjet 85. Deliveries for the
year, however, were down only slightly.
However, it is on the commercial aircraft
side that Bombardier took the biggest clob-
bering, with an EBIT loss of almost $4 bil-
lion, due to delays on the CSeries, which
was finally certificated during the year.
Chief executive Alain Bellemare de-
scribed 2015 as a “turnaround” year after
the company took a number of crucial deci-
sions to revamp its management team and
shed staff. It also “derisked” several aircraft
programmes and accepted a $1 billion in-
vestment from the Quebec government in
return for a 49.5% equity stake in the
CSeries programme.
“Bombardier is in a better place today
and we are on the path to greater profitabil-
ity,” Bellemare declared when the financial
results were published in February.
flightglobal.com

Top 20 share of Top 100 sales
22.5%
77.5%
Top 20 The rest
Aerospace turnover follows an almost 80:20
❯❯
rule, with the biggest 20 companies responsi-
ble for 77.5% of total sales. It would take more
than 340 Figeac Aeros – ranked at 100 – to add
up to first-placed Boeing, with its turnover of
more than $96 billion.
The G500 is one of a pair of new business jet types from General Dynamics’ main aerospace business
16 General Dynamics
2015 rank: 14
Revenue: $8.85 billion (+2.3%)
Profit: $1.7 billion (+6%)
Margin: 19.3%
Aerospace makes up just over a quarter of
defence giant General Dynamics’ revenues
and that division – comprising Gulfstream
and the business aviation services outfit Jet
Aviation – had a reasonably strong year, with
increased revenues and operating profits.
Strong demand for the Savannah,
flightglobal.com
Top 20 share of Top 100 profits
20.5%
79.5%
Top 20 The rest
Our figures show an even bigger disparity
❯❯
between the largest and the rest when it
comes to making a return from their activities.
Here the top 20 make just under 80% of the
overall profits, with GE, fifth in the sales rank-
ing, notching the highest profits, at $5.5 billion.
Georgia-based airframer’s flagship G650
business jets saw Gulfstream buck a sluggish
market for top-end VIP aircraft, with produc-
tion increasing during 2015 and rising further
this year to meet a growing backlog.
Business aviation is a high-margin sector
and Gulfstream is arguably the most blue-
chip brand on the market. And, although
Gulfstream’s other large-cabin models – the
G550 and G450 – fared less well, prompting
a reduction in output, strong sales generally
translate into robust profits.
TOP 100
Special Report
8.4%
The average operating
margin for Top 100
companies in 2015
64
Number of Top 100
companies posting
revenues of $1 billion-plus
Gulfstream
Together with Gulfstream’s smaller G280
and G150 types, the business delivered
fractionally more units during 2015 – 147
– than in 2014, when it shipped 144.
Gulfstream’s sister aviation business, Jet
Aviation, is a nice fit, providing some of the
service back-up for the manufacturer’s fleet.
The company also runs a completion centre
for airliner-sized business jets in Basle,
Switzerland, as well as offering aircraft man-
agement and flight handling throughout
much of the world.
13-19 September 2016 | Flight International | 39
TOP 100
Special Report
27 MTU
2015 rank: 25
Revenue: $4.95 billion (+13.5%)
Profit: $430 million (+16%)
Margin: 8.7%
For the world’s largest engine sub-assembly
manufacturer, the financial success enjoyed
in 2015 should only get better as deliveries
of the Pratt & Whitney PW1000G ramp up.
Munich-based MTU is a risk-sharing partner
on the powerplant for the A320neo, CSeries
and Embraer E2, among others, responsible
for the programme’s high-pressure com-
pressor and for final assembly of three in 10
of the engines – this year marked the first
time MTU has assembled a commercial en-
gine to any sort of scale. The company
should be shipping 250 PW1000Gs a year
by the end of the decade.
MTU delivered about 2,000 engines and
modules in 2015, but it expects to double
that to about 4,000 by 2020. To help man-
age this increase, it expanded its plant in
Poland last year.
While P&W is MTU’s main customer,
the German firm is partner-agnostic,
working with GE, Rolls-Royce and Safran
on a series of manufacturing and after-
Triumph is firmly onboard in the slow-selling 747-8
Triumph
31
2015 rank: 30
Revenue: $3.89 billion (-0.1%)
Profit: -$1.09 billion
Margin: N/A
40 | Flight International | 13-19 September 2016
Engine sub-assembly specialist MTU is
investing heavily in technology
market programmes. It is involved in the
GEnx, GE90, GE9X and GP7000, and
competes with all of its partners on the
aftermarket, offering services to operators
of the International Aero Engines V2500
and CFM International CFM56. The com-
pany claims that it is the largest inde-
pendent engine repair and overhaul
provider in the world.
Boeing
For Triumph Group, 2015 was a difficult year
in which it struggled to transform what had
been a staggering spell of growth into profit-
ability. It turned a profit of $435 million in
2014 into a loss of more than $1 billion on a
fractionally lower turnover. These are major
losses and it is something chief executive
Dan Crowley has vowed to put right with his
MTU
2.4%
For comparison, the growth
in world gross domestic
product (GDP) during 2015
“One Triumph” strategy, which involves
closing 10 sites and reducing operating
units from 47 to 22.
Triumph is still a relatively new name in
aerospace. Founded in 1993 and essen-
tially a holding company for a spate of ac-
quisitions, including Vought Aircraft
Industries in 2010, Triumph had become
too unwieldy and was hit by the poor sales
performance of the Boeing 747-8, a pro-
gramme in which it had invested heavily.
Crowley now wants to introduce efficien-
cies and make sure the individual busi-
nesses act in unison and benefit from
scale economies.
Crowley is also putting the Triumph
brand to the fore for the first time. “We are
going to the market as one company,” he
told FlightGlobal earlier this year. He is also
keen to stress that the strategy is not all
about rationalisation. Triumph has been
investing too, with a factory in Kansas City,
Missouri, to machine components for the
Airbus A350 and another in Dallas, Texas,
to produce wings for the Bombardier
Global 7000.
flightglobal.com

The Fokker acquisition will strengthen GKN’s hand in wings and composite aerostructures generally
32 GKN Aerospace
2015 rank: 32
Revenue: $3.82 billion (+12.3%)
Profit: $445 million (+5%)
Margin: 11.6%
Acquisitions have been the order of the day
for GKN Aerospace in recent years. After
building a war-chest from its sale of its half
stake in AgustaWestland to Finmeccanica a
decade ago, it has bought several business-
es, including Volvo Aero in 2012 and
Fokker Technologies in 2015.
The roughly $782 million Fokker acquisi-
Top 10 defence aerospace sales
Rank
1 Lockheed Martin
2 Boeing
3 Northrop Grumman
4 Raytheon
5 BAE Systems
6 Airbus
7 United Technologies
8 L-3 Communications
9 Honeywell
10 Textron
flightglobal.com
TOP 100
Special Report
GKN
tion from its private equity owner, which pany as the leader in special products such
came too late to significantly feed into GKN as transparencies and ice protection, num-
revenues last year, strengthened the com- ber two in both the aerostructures and en-
pany’s position in wings and composite aer- gine systems market, and a third player in
ostructures, but also handed it a electrical wiring.
world-leading electrical wiring capability While Cummings cautions that GKN
that zaps it into becoming one of the top Aerospace is not growing for growth’s sake
global players in that space. – “we are not trying to be everything to
While GKN’s strength is in thermoset com- everybody” – he maintains that “scale is a
posites, Fokker is a market leader in thermo- large competitive advantage for us”.
plastics, giving the UK company a Aerospace makes up roughly a third of
complementary product line. Today, chief GKN group revenues, with automotive re-
executive Kevin Cummings ranks his com- maining its biggest activity.
-1.1%
Defence sales $ millions Defence sales growth
48,100 1.2%
30,400 -1.6%
23,500 -1.9%
23,400 1.8% Average year-on-year
14,500 14.1%
revenue growth for Top 20
14,100 4.6%
11,700 -21.4%
8,770 -2.6% ❯❯ Our table on the left ranks the Top 100
4,720 -0.8%
companies by defence aerospace revenues.
Predictably, the big US government contrac-
3,110 -18.9%
tors dominate the listing
13-19 September 2016 | Flight International | 41
 TOP 100
Special Report

Top 20 by operating margin 2015

Rank by margin Company Rank by Operatingmargin ❯❯ Companies with a strong position in a niche
sales market, such as avionics company Garmin and
1 TransDigm 37 39.7% ejection-seat manufacturer Martin-Baker, heav-
2 Martin-Baker 97 28.2% ily populate the list of top performers by oper-
3 Garmin 92 27.8% ating margin, which is headed by TransDigm
4 Harris 30 22.5%
with an impressive return of almost 40%
5 General Electric 5 22.3%
6 Crane Aerospace & Electronics 78 21.0%
7 Senior 84 20.4%
8 Cytec (Solvay Group) 62 19.9%
9 Rockwell Collins 25 19.5%

-7.1%
10 Hindustan Aeronautics 38 19.4%
11 General Dynamics 16 19.3%
12 Kaman Aerospace 82 18.5%
13 Heico 64 18.2%
14 Eaton 48 17.2%
15 Pilatus 58 17.0%
16 B/E Aerospace 36 16.6%
17 Woodward 59 16.2% The amount that revenues
18 Barnes Aerospace 91 15.9%
fell in 2015 for the bottom
19 CAE 47 14.9%
20 Figeac Aero 100 14.7% 20 in the Top 100
CAE manufactures simulators as
well as offering training, and spans
the civil and defence markets 47 CAE
2015 rank: 46
Revenue: $1.88 billion (+11.5%)
Profit: $280 million (+10%)
Margin: 14.9%

Canadian simulator manufacturer and

training company CAE is in an enviable
position, benefiting from the surge in air-
liner orders, which in turn has led to in-
creased need for pilot training, as well as
the trend on the defence side of its busi-
ness for militaries to reduce risk and cost
by doing more instruction in simulators
rather than real aircraft. It also dominates
this sector and is the only significant play-
er to both make simulators and offer pilot
training from entry-level courses through
to simulator-based programmes.
It saw a double-digit increase in both
revenues and profit in 2015, although its
overall revenues and position in the ranking
slipped because of the weakness of the
Canadian dollar relative to the greenback.
Commercial aviation makes up 57% of
CAE’s revenues, and military 39%, with
healthcare accounting for the remainder.
Increasingly, CAE’s model has been to
enter partnerships with airlines, setting up
simulator centres as joint ventures with the
carrier as anchor customer. On the military
side, it has taken on contracts to supply en-
tire training packages for an aircraft type.
CAE

42 | Flight International | 13-19 September 2016 flightglobal.com

 TOP 100
Special Report

Marshall Aerospace
The Cambridge company is best known for its long-standing relationship with Lockheed Martin on the C-130

Marshall
88
2015 rank: 88
Revenue: $477 million (+1.6%)
Profit: $18.8 million (-7%)
Margin: 3.9%
Although strictly a maintenance, repair and
overhaul provider, Marshall Aerospace
makes it into our listing because the com-
plexity of its engineering capabilities makes
it effectively a manufacturer in our books.
“We are an OEM without a product – we
have all the design approvals,” is how the
company characterises itself.
A division of the family owned Marshall
Group, the car dealerships to property group
based in Cambridge, UK, Marshall Aerospace
is known mostly for its long-standing relation-
ship with Lockheed Martin on the UK’s fleet
of C-130 Hercules transport aircraft.
However, under a strategic review begun in
2011, the company has been trying to diver-
sify, including into business aviation and air-
line MRO and other services.
Although the UK announced plans to re-
tire its C-130s, it has since said it will retain a
smaller fleet into the 2030s: good news for
Marshall, which will begin the latest
tranche of work on the types from the end
of the decade.
Marshall also supports up to 100
Hercules operated by about 10 air forces,
and has branched into conversion pro-
jects involving ATR-72s and Bombardier
Global 6000s.
Although aerospace accounts for only
about a fifth of Marshall Group’s turnover,
it is reasonably profitable (selling, serving
and financing cars tends to involve high
revenues on slim margins), although prof-
its were down in 2015 against slightly
higher turnover.

-18.5% -2.4%
The amount that average Top 100 Revenue growth for the Top
profits slipped compared with 2014 100 in 2015 – also negative

flightglobal.com 13-19 September 2016 | Flight International | 43

 TOP 100
Special Report
Boeing

Winning the 777X landing gear deal from

Boeing was breakthrough for Canadian firm

99 Heroux-Devtek
2015 rank: 95
Revenue: $319 million (+11.5%)
Profit: $29.6 million (+473%)
Margin: 9.3%
Although it has slipped slightly in the rank-
ings, revenue and profits were up (in local cur-
rency at least) at Canada’s Heroux-Devtek. In
2015, the landing gear specialist opened a
new factory in Ontario and an assembly facil-
ity in Seattle for its contract to design and
build the landing gear for the Boeing 777X, its
first widebody deal, cementing its status as the
third-largest landing gear manufacturer in the
world after Safran and UTC.
The Quebec-based manufacturer, which
traces its roots to the Second World War and
has been a public corporation since 1986, has
a business that is almost equally split between
commercial and defence, although the 777X
contract, once deliveries start, could skew that
in favour of the former segment. During the
financial year, Heroux-Devtek saw progress
with two other programmes for which it sup-
plies the landing gear: the Sikorsky CH-53K
King Stallion had its first flight and the
Dassault Falcon 5X rolled out.
The company also notched up contracts
for the Leonardo Helicopters AW609 and
Korea Aerospace Industries’ KF-X fighter.
Elsewhere, 2015-16 was a year of consoli-
dation after significant acquisitions in Runcorn
in the UK and Wichita, Kansas in early 2014.

10%
Top 20 by sales growth 2015
Rank by growth % Company Rank by sales Sales growth
1 Constellium 65 29.7%
2 Korea Aerospace Industries 39 28.2%
3 Alcoa 26 27.8%
4 Figeac Aero 100 22.5%
5 ShinMaywa 96 22.3%
Average Top 100 operating
6 Saab 49 21.0%
7 United Aircraft 22 20.4%
margin in 2014; 1.6% higher
8 JAMCO 69 19.9% than in the latest year
9 ITT Corporation 94 19.5%
10 Zodiac 23 19.4%
11 LISI 61 19.3%
12 IHI 29 18.5%
13 Fuji Heavy Industries 56 18.2%
14 TransDigm 37 17.2%
15 BAE Systems 9 17.0%
16 Dassault Aviation 28 16.6% ❯❯ Our analysis shows that Dutch aluminium
17 MTU Aero Engines 27 16.2%
products specialist Constellium had the most
impressive growth in revenue in 2015, at al-
18 Magellan Aerospace 75 15.9%
most 30%, with seven Top 100 companies in
19 Safran 8 14.9%
total seeing their sales rise by at least a fifth
20 GKN Aerospace 32 14.7%
over the previous year

44 | Flight International | 13-19 September 2016 flightglobal.com


Figeac Aero
100
2015 rank: 99
Revenue: $281 million (+21.6%)
Profit: 41.3 million (+24%)
Margin: 14.7%
Fast-growing Figeac Aero, the French aero-
structures maker that squeaks in at number
100, has seen revenues and profits (in euro
terms) soar by more than a fifth and a quar-
ter, respectively, on the back of its healthy
flightglobal.com
supply chain position with Airbus, although
its success has been slightly diluted by the
dollar exchange rate.
Privately owned Figeac Aero – which was
founded in 1989 by Jean-Claude Maillard
and has no connection with propeller spe-
cialist Ratier Figeac, a UTC Aerospace
Systems subsidiary, other than a shared
home town in southwest France – derived
almost 84% of its revenues in the financial
year to 31 March 2016 from aerostructures,
with the remainder from machining and sur-
face treatment.
The company – which has subsidiaries in
TOP 100
Special Report
Morocco, Tunisia and the USA – benefited
from the ramp-up of several aircraft pro-
grammes “and has, in particular, taken full
advantage of its strong positioning on the
Airbus A350”. It also supplies Airbus
Helicopters, Boeing, Bombardier, Dassault,
Embraer and Gulfstream.
Earlier this year, the company raised more
than €96 million ($108 million) in the Paris
financial markets by issuing €86 million of
new shares and €10 million of existing
shares owned by Maillard. The move took
the free float proportion of Figeac Aero to
just under a quarter.
Figeac Aero has done well on the
back of its position on the Airbus
A350, which is assembled just a
few hours from its factory
Airbus
13-19 September 2016 | Flight International | 45
TOP 100
Special Report

Top 100 by company name

Company Ranking Company Ranking Company Ranking
Aernnova 76 General Electric 5 Nordam group 74
Aerojet Rocketdyne 50 GKN Aerospace 32 Northrop Grumman 6
Airbus 2 Harris 30 Orbital ATK 34
Alcoa 26 Heico 64 Panasonic Avionics 40
Allegheny Technologies 54 Heroux-Devtek 99 Parker Hannifin 43
Amphenol 66 Hexcel 51 Pilatus 58
ASCO Industries 93 Hindustan Aeronautics 38 Praxair 98
AVIC 24 Honeywell 12 Precision Castparts 18
B/E Aerospace 36 IHI 29 Raytheon 7
BAE Systems 9 Indra 81 Recaro Aircraft Seating 89
Ball Aerospace 70 Israel Aerospace Industries 33 Rockwell Collins 25
Barnes Aerospace 91 ITP 72 Rolls-Royce 11
Boeing 1 ITT Corporation 94 RUAG 63
Bombardier 14 JAMCO 69 Saab 49
CAE 47 Kaman Aerospace 82 Safran 8
Chemring 83 Kawasaki 35 Senior 84
Cobham 41 Kongsberg 87 ShinMaywa 96
Constellium 65 Korea Aerospace Industries 39 SKF 85
Crane Aerospace and Electronics 78 Korean Air Aerospace Division 73 Sonaca 90
Curtiss-Wright 77 L-3 Communications 13 Spirit AeroSystems 19
Cytec (Solvay Group) 62 Latecoere 71 ST Engineering 53
Daher 60 Leonardo (Finmeccanica) 10 Teledyne Technologies 67
Dassault Aviation 28 Liebherr 55 Textron 15
Diehl Aerosystems 57 LISI 61 Thales 20
Ducommun 86 LMI Aerospace 95 TransDigm 37
Eaton 48 Lockheed Martin 3 Triumph Group 31
Elbit Systems 42 Magellan Aerospace 75 Turkish Aerospace Industries 68
Embraer 21 Marshall 88 Ultra Electronics 79
Esterline 52 Martin-Baker 97 United Aircraft 22
FACC 80 MDA 44 United Technologies 4
Figeac Aero 100 Meggitt 45 Woodward 59
Fuji Heavy Industries 56 Mitsubishi 17 Zodiac 23
Garmin 92 Moog 46
General Dynamics 16 MTU Aero Engines 27

DATA SOURCE

The Flight International Aerospace Top 100
was compiled by Counterpoint Market
Intelligence on behalf of FlightGlobal. The
information used in preparing the report
has been obtained solely from company
annual reports, public filings and other pub-
licly available information.
■M  ETHODOLODY
Companies have been ranked for their finan-
cial year 2015 or 2015-16. As far as possible,
we have sought to obtain representative fig-
ures for aerospace turnover. Companies in-
volved predominantly in aviation services,
maintenance repair and overhaul and fi-
nance have been excluded. Where a busi-
ness’s divisional structure clearly separates
its aerospace activities, we have taken that
figure. In other instances, we have excluded
elements of the business that are not in-
volved in aerospace, but in some cases,
where the company’s revenues primarily de-
rive from aerospace manufacturing, we have
included the top-line revenue total. Satellite
services have been excluded wherever pos-
sible, as have companies and divisions that
derive more than 50% of their revenues from
services such as leasing. Joint ventures have
been included in the financials. Intersegment
sales have been excluded from operating
results and profits for divisions where pos-
sible. When not possible, divisional results
have been presented inclusive of inter divi-
sion sales, which may result in aerospace
revenues greater than group sales.
 PERATING RESULTS
■O
Generally, the profit (or loss) is before inter-
est, tax and exceptional items and after de-
duction of depreciation. Discontinued or
discontinuing operations have been includ-
ed where they fall in fiscal year 2015 for
that business.
■ EXCHANGE RATE
An average exchange rate for the period 1
January 2015 to 31 December 2015 has
been used for all non-US companies, regard-
less of fiscal year definitions. The source for
the exchange rate information was UK Forex.
The percentage changes in financial figures
has been given in local currency terms to
avoid unnecessary distortions due to the
fluctuating exchange rate.
Contact Counterpoint, Richard Apps
on cpmil.com

46 | Flight International | 13-19 September 2016 flightglobal.com