Light-turbine aircraft broker Aerocor has produced what it said is the first update on the Beechcraft Premier I/IA fleet, revealing in part the kinds of upgrades the light twinjet has received as a percentage of the active fleet. In addition to types of upgrades to the fleet, the report includes information about aircraft utilization and program status based on a survey conducted between October and November involving responses representing 28 percent of the active fleet of 273 aircraft—118 Premier Is and 155 Premier IAs.

“There was very little information available on the state of the Premier fleet,” said Aerocor co-founder and president Gavin Woodman. “For operators, [fleet data] provides the context to assess the value of available upgrades. For buyers and sellers, it provides a basis for comparing aircraft available in the marketplace.”

For example, the entire fleet has a low utilization rate, with the majority of Premier I/IAs averaging less than 150 hours a year. Also, about 89 percent of the fleet has been upgraded to comply with ADS-B, according to the report.

Drilling down to the two variants, the report notes that more than three-quarters of Premier Is have been outfitted with traffic collision and avoidance system II and enhanced ground proximity warning systems while only 22 percent are equipped with e-charts and 33 percent XM weather. On the Premier IA, 59 percent of surveyed aircraft have been upgraded to localizer performance with vertical guidance while only 14 percent have synthetic vision and 29 percent dual FMS, according to the report.

Going forward, Woodman said Aerocor will conduct annual surveys of the Premier I/IA fleet incorporating new upgrades, STCs, and other relevant changes. “It’s one more step toward closing the information gap left when the manufacturer ceased production and gives prospective buyers and sellers a competitive edge,” he added.