First-quarter revenues at General Dynamics’ aerospace unit (Gulfstream Aerospace and Jet Aviation) climbed 45.2% year over year, to $3.026 billion, and earnings rocketed 69.4%, to $432 million. Meanwhile, aircraft deliveries at Gulfstream surged 50%, to 36 aircraft, General Dynamics reported today.

Gulfstream shipped 30 large-cabin jets, including 13 G700s, and six super-midsize G280s in the quarter, up from 21 large-cabin jets and three G280s in the same period last year. According to General Dynamics chairman and CEO Phebe Novakovic, Gulfstream is projected to deliver 150 aircraft this year. She also noted that the last G650s will be delivered by July, with the newly certified G800 succeeding the older model, though Novakovic did not disclose when the first G800 would be handed over to its customer.

Because of the ramp-up in deliveries, book-to-bill fell to 0.8:1, with aerospace backlog eroding by 4% from the end of 2024, to $18.99 billion. However, Novakovic pointed out that demand for Gulfstreams remains strong, particularly in the U.S. and Middle East, and the $2.4 billion in sales in the most recent three-month period matched that of the third quarter last year.

According to Novakovic, the supply chain is continuing to improve, with better component quality and less out-of-station work needed on the Gulfstream production lines. She largely avoided discussing how tariffs might affect the supply chain, but noted that Gulfstream jets have “large U.S. content” while acknowledging that the aerospace unit could be the most affected by tariffs of all divisions at General Dynamics.

Novakovic also gave a shout-out to business aviation FBO and MRO provider Jet Aviation, which saw aviation services revenues rise by 8% in the quarter while earnings jumped 22%.