GE CEO optimistic about aviation unit with leisure trips back, business travel not far behind

General Electric CEO Larry Culp said Tuesday he believes global air travel will continue to recover from its pandemic-induced slowdown, leading to a positive outlook for the industrial giant’s critical aviation unit. “Clearly, lots of things that we all have our eyes on including the delta variant. But that said, it looks like the leisure traveler is back and business travelers are not that far behind, hopefully,” Culp said. “I think on balance, that’s what gives us the optimism and the confidence about our aviation business.” Shares of GE finished up 1.24% Tuesday, slightly below their highs of the day, after the Boston-based company posted Q2 results. GE also reported free cash flow of $388m for Q2, surprising Wall Street analysts who were looking for outflows. The aviation unit, which manufactures and services engines, saw orders jump 47% in the quarter on a year-over-year basis. In the second quarter of 2020, the company was in the throes of the Covid crisis, suffering along with airlines from the dramatic decline in air travel. All of GE’s industrial segments — aviation, health care, renewable energy and power — reported increased profit margin in the most-recent quarter. The aviation unit saw the largest jump, rising 1,930 basis points year over year. One basis point is equal to 0.01%. Taking a global view, Culp said GE’s aviation unit is seeing improvement in its markets, including the U.S., Europe and China. “We see Europe, slowly, gradually, coming back here as of late, as well. China is just off single digits from where they were in 2019,” Culp said. <br/>