Daher Aircraft is targeting a TBM 980 delivery record after handing over more than 30 of the single-engine turboprops since the type entered service in January 2026, with the French manufacturer telling EAA AirVenture Oshkosh it aims to deliver more than 60 aircraft before the year is out. If achieved, Daher Aircraft CEO Nicolas Chabbert said, the figure would represent the strongest delivery year in the TBM programme’s history.
Deliveries began after the TBM 980 was unveiled at Daher’s Tarbes production facility on 15 January 2026. By late April the company had placed 13 aircraft with customers. That figure has since more than doubled, and the orderbook is expected to sustain production at record levels at least into mid-2027.
Repeat buyers driving TBM 980 delivery record momentum
More than half of the customers taking delivery of TBM 980s this year previously owned another TBM, a retention rate Chabbert pointed to as evidence of programme strength. ‘The exceptional response to the TBM 980, including the confidence shown by existing TBM owners, demonstrates how our strategy continues to resonate with customers around the world,’ he said. Named repeat customers include Dr Ian Fries, who took delivery of his sixth TBM-family aircraft in March, and Savage Aviation, which already operates a TBM 960.
Daher delivered the 1,300th TBM-family aircraft in April, a TBM 980 bound for a customer in the United States. According to Daher Aircraft, the TBM programme has been in production since 1990, meaning those 1,300 deliveries span more than three decades and cover every variant in the family. The global TBM fleet has accumulated more than 2.6 million flight hours across private, business and special-mission operations.
The secondary market data reinforces how strongly demand is running. Daher reports that only three of the 218 TBM 960s produced are currently available for sale worldwide, with four of the 124 TBM 940s built also listed. That limited supply has helped late-model aircraft retain values close to their original purchase prices, the company said.
Avionics and safety systems: what changed on the new type
The TBM 980 sits at the top of Daher’s pressurised, six-seat TBM family and replaces the TBM 960 in the lineup. It retains the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6E-66XT engine, a five-blade Hartzell composite propeller and the full-authority digital engine control system carried over from its predecessor. The principal changes are in the flight deck: Garmin’s G3000 Prime system replaces the previous avionics suite with three 14-inch, edge-to-edge touchscreen displays. Pilots can customise the displays and save presets to reduce the number of steps required to manage aircraft systems and flight functions.
The TBM 980 also retains Daher Aircraft’s e-copilot suite of automated systems, which spans advanced weather detection, icing protection, flight-envelope monitoring and emergency descent mode, together with the Garmin HomeSafe emergency autoland functionality. That safety package has been a consistent feature across the TBM 900-series and is cited by Daher as a core element of the type’s appeal to owner-pilots operating without a co-pilot.
Beyond the aircraft programme, Daher Aircraft sits within a group that employs 14,500 people and recorded revenue of €1.9 billion in 2025, a scale that underlines the industrial weight behind the TBM production ramp-up being discussed at Oshkosh this week.
Daher is displaying the TBM 980 alongside the Kodiak 100 and Kodiak 900 at AirVenture, which runs through 26 July at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh. The show appearance marks the first major public outing for the type since deliveries passed the 30-aircraft mark, giving the sales team direct access to the owner-pilot demographic that has historically driven TBM upgrade cycles.
