Garmin has delivered its one millionth certified avionics unit, 28 years after the company was founded.
The milestone product was a GTX 3000 Mode S transponder with extended squitter.
“Since our inception over 28 years ago, Garmin has been committed to providing superior products that are known for their innovation, reliability and intuitive design,” said Phil Straub, Garmin executive vice president, managing director of aviation.
“This milestone is a testament to our long-established commitment to making significant investments in research and development, as well as the hard work and dedication of thousands of passionate Garmin team members that I have the pleasure of working with every day."
Carl Wolf, vice president of aviation marketing and sales said the milestone was a tribute to the company that has handled significant growth without losing its original identity.
“As we celebrate this exciting accomplishment, I am very proud of how our teams have managed such significant growth while maintaining the culture of our company as our founders set forth,” he said.
“The breadth and depth of our certified aviation product line has expanded greatly over the years, allowing us to develop new markets for Garmin. This incredible milestone doesn’t even include the hundreds of thousands of portable and other non-certified products that our customers use every day."
Garmin was originally founded as ProNav in 1989, but the name was later changed to reflect the first names of the two founders, Gary Burrell and Min H. Kao. Garmin was to go on and develop a range of GPS navigation units that proved very popular for several applications and become one of the world's largest manufacturer of GPS units and avionics.
Company Highlights
- 1991: GPS 100 AVD – a navigator designed specifically to aid visual flight
- 1994: GPS 155 TSO – the first GPS unit fully-certified for non-precision approaches
- 1998: GNS 430/530 – an integrated GPS, COM, VOR, LOC and glideslope product with a moving map
- 2003: G1000 – an integrated "glass cockpit" flight deck with primary and multi function flight displays
- 2011: GTN 650/750 – touchscreen avionic navigators for general aviation aircraft.