Aircraft
Garmin Delivers One Thousandth King Air Flight Deck Retrofit Package
Garmin announced the handover of its one thousandth integrated flight deck retrofit package for King Air aircraft, marking a major milestone in aviation history.
Garmin announced the milestone on October 13, 2026, from Olathe, Kansas, noting that the program represents the most successful flight deck retrofit initiative in aviation history. The upgrade swaps out legacy avionics for a modern, fully integrated system, giving older King Air aircraft extended service life, better reliability, and modern capabilities.
The milestone aircraft is a U.S. Army C-12 Huron that was upgraded by Stevens Aerospace and Defense with a G1000 NXi system and Garmin Autothrottle. The celebration for the delivery took place on October 6 at Stevens Aerospace and Defense. According to Garmin Vice President Aviation Sales, Marketing, Programs & Support Carl Wolf, reaching one thousand retrofits shows the lasting value of the program and customer trust in the company and its dealer network.
The U.S. Army has modernized more than forty C-12 Huron airframes with the G1000 NXi setup to standardize its fleet. Stevens Aerospace Senior Vice President Jim Williams stated that the Army launched the avionics update to keep the C-12 fleet mission-ready through 2050, selecting the Garmin system as the next-generation solution. Project Manager for Fixed Wing LTC James B. Hickey noted that replacing aging analog instruments with data-enabled G1000 technology mitigates obsolescence, cuts lifecycle maintenance burdens, and boosts operational readiness while giving aviators enhanced situational awareness.
Garmin secured its first supplemental type certificate for a King Air G1000 upgrade in November 2007 and later certified the G1000 NXi in January 2017. Over the years, the upgrade path expanded to encompass multiple King Air variants including the C90A, C90B, 200, B200, 300, 350 series, and C-12 models, backed by foreign certification validations worldwide.
The modern flight deck reduces pilot workload and incorporates large-screen displays alongside safety features like Synthetic Vision Technology, which provides a three-dimensional exocentric view of the SafeTaxi environment, topographical clarity, and obstacle displays. Eligible aircraft can also incorporate advanced tools like Garmin Autothrottle, which automatically manages engine power from takeoff through landing, protects against ITT and torque exceedances, and responds to speed changes and engine failure. Properly equipped models can also utilize Garmin Autoland to safely land the aircraft and shut down engines without human intervention if the crew becomes incapacitated.