Less than half (49 percent) of owners and operators of business aircraft around the globe believe the business aviation industry is past its low point, according to the annual JetNet iQ State of the Market Briefing presented at NBAA 2013 on Tuesday. That’s a slight drop from the 52 percent who said the industry was beyond its bottom in last year’s survey, according to JetNet, the Ithaca, N.Y.-based market data provider.

Regionally, 54 percent of respondents in North America believe the worst is over, while in Latin America and the rest of the world, only 35 percent expressed such confidence.

JetNet data analyst Rolland Vincent told briefing attendees that the company believes aircraft deliveries will show a decline this year over 2012 figures, which was hardly a banner year itself. “Three OEMs–Cessna, Hawker, and Gulfstream–[didn’t make] their numbers in 2012,” Vincent said. This year’s decline is due to “execution issues regarding certification of some new [aircraft] programs” rather than lack of demand, he said.

JetNet surveyed 507 respondents from 46 countries who collectively operate 1,331 fixed-wing turbine aircraft. Respondents’ locations and aircraft closely mirror those of the world fleet, according to Jetnet, and margin of error is +/- 4 percent.

Despite the dour outlook, Vincent noted that previous recoveries of business aviation following recessions required six years, which would indicate a turnaround in this market could be coming in as little as one year.