Arcline (the PE firm that bought Hartzell in 2023 and jacked up prices a month later) is now buying Continental. That means one private equity firm would own a huge chunk of the piston engine + propeller + accessory aftermarket. There's an actual, free way to flag this to federal antitrust regulators before the deal closes. Links at the bottom.
Some of you lived through this already, but for anyone who missed it: in October 2023, Arcline Investment Management (a PE firm) bought Hartzell Aviation — Hartzell Propeller and Hartzell Engine Tech (magnetos, starters, alternators, turbochargers, fuel pumps, exhaust systems, engine mounts). Then in June 2026, Arcline announced it's buying Continental Aerospace Technologies for about $535M, taking it back from AVIC (the Chinese state-owned firm that's owned it since 2011).
On paper that sounds fine — "historic American engine maker returns to US ownership," great. Here's the part that should give every piston owner pause:
This is the same company that already showed us what it does with pricing power.
Within about a month of closing the Hartzell deal, the new price list dropped (effective Dec 8, 2023) and it wasn't subtle:
Now the same buyer is about to own the engine platform too. If you fly behind a Continental with a Hartzell prop (a very common pairing), one company's pricing decisions could hit your annual from two directions at once instead of one.
Why the deal math makes this more than a "maybe"
Trade press pegs the Continental purchase price at roughly 15.3x trailing EBITDA (https://peprofessional.com/2026/06/arcline-takes-continental-aerospace/). That's a rich multiple. To make a multiple like that pencil out over a 5-7 year hold, you generally need serious earnings growth — and that growth has to come from somewhere.
Here's the problem: it can't realistically come from selling a lot more new piston airplanes, because that market just... isn't growing.
This isn't hypothetical — there's a real process for this
Mergers over a certain size have to clear a waiting period with the FTC/DOJ under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act before they can close. Regulators do take outside input into account, especially from people who can speak to real-world pricing and parts availability — which is exactly what we as pilots and owners have.
You don't need a lawyer or a trade association to weigh in. There are two direct channels:
Also worth pinging: AOPA and EAA government affairs — this is squarely their lane, and they can amplify beyond what individual comments do.
Not trying to start a pile-on here — Continental returning to US ownership is a genuinely good thing on its own. The concern is narrower: one owner controlling engine + prop + a big chunk of accessories, priced like the market is going to grow when the data says it isn't, right after that same owner already showed its hand on pricing once. Seemed worth flagging before the ink's dry rather than after.
Fly safe.
Some of you lived through this already, but for anyone who missed it: in October 2023, Arcline Investment Management (a PE firm) bought Hartzell Aviation — Hartzell Propeller and Hartzell Engine Tech (magnetos, starters, alternators, turbochargers, fuel pumps, exhaust systems, engine mounts). Then in June 2026, Arcline announced it's buying Continental Aerospace Technologies for about $535M, taking it back from AVIC (the Chinese state-owned firm that's owned it since 2011).
On paper that sounds fine — "historic American engine maker returns to US ownership," great. Here's the part that should give every piston owner pause:
This is the same company that already showed us what it does with pricing power.
Within about a month of closing the Hartzell deal, the new price list dropped (effective Dec 8, 2023) and it wasn't subtle:
- A Sky-Tec starter went from $484 → $1,295
- A prop blade went from $7,284 → $10,964 (+51%)
Now the same buyer is about to own the engine platform too. If you fly behind a Continental with a Hartzell prop (a very common pairing), one company's pricing decisions could hit your annual from two directions at once instead of one.
Why the deal math makes this more than a "maybe"
Trade press pegs the Continental purchase price at roughly 15.3x trailing EBITDA (https://peprofessional.com/2026/06/arcline-takes-continental-aerospace/). That's a rich multiple. To make a multiple like that pencil out over a 5-7 year hold, you generally need serious earnings growth — and that growth has to come from somewhere.
Here's the problem: it can't realistically come from selling a lot more new piston airplanes, because that market just... isn't growing.
- GAMA member manufacturers shipped over 17,800 piston units in 1978. By 1989 that had collapsed 96% to about 628 units.
- 2024 shipments? 1,772 units — still roughly 90% below the 1978 peak, five decades later. (GAMA 2024 Annual Data)
- The active piston fleet itself isn't growing either — about 173,000 in 2018 (PwC) vs. ~138,960 in 2024 per the FAA's GA Activity Survey, and the average single-engine piston aircraft in the fleet is 52.2 years old.
This isn't hypothetical — there's a real process for this
Mergers over a certain size have to clear a waiting period with the FTC/DOJ under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act before they can close. Regulators do take outside input into account, especially from people who can speak to real-world pricing and parts availability — which is exactly what we as pilots and owners have.
You don't need a lawyer or a trade association to weigh in. There are two direct channels:
- FTC — Comment on a Proposed Merger: https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/merger-review/comment-on-a-proposed-merger
- DOJ Antitrust Division — Citizen Complaint Center: https://www.justice.gov/atr/citizen-complaint-center
Also worth pinging: AOPA and EAA government affairs — this is squarely their lane, and they can amplify beyond what individual comments do.
Not trying to start a pile-on here — Continental returning to US ownership is a genuinely good thing on its own. The concern is narrower: one owner controlling engine + prop + a big chunk of accessories, priced like the market is going to grow when the data says it isn't, right after that same owner already showed its hand on pricing once. Seemed worth flagging before the ink's dry rather than after.
Fly safe.