Garmin retained its spot at the top of the 2012 AIN Avionics Product Support Survey cockpit avionics rankings, with readers giving the avionics manufacturer an overall average rating of 8.3 this year, down 1 percent from last year but again the only company rated in the eights. Rockwell Collins, which jumped to second place with a rating of 7.8, saw its score climb 1 percent compared with last year’s fourth-place rating. Universal Avionics came in third this year, scoring an overall average of 7.7, down 3 percent from last year and its 2011 second-place finish.

Honeywell’s cockpit avionics rating climbed 1 percent this year, and Honeywell moved up from sixth place last year to fourth this year. Avidyne scored the same 7.5 rating as last year, putting it in a tie for fourth place with Honeywell. Also with the same rating as last year was Honeywell’s Bendix/King division, which moved from seventh place to change Honeywell to fifth, because of the tie. While more companies were listed in the overall average chart last year, some companies didn’t receive enough ratings this year to be included.

Seven cabin avionics manufacturers received enough ratings for inclusion in this year’s results, and topping the list again is Aircell, climbing 1 percent to reach 8.0, the sole cabin electronics company with an overall average rating in the eights. Flight Display Systems is catching up, however, and made a strong jump this year to 7.9, up 4 percent over last year and climbing from fourth to second place. Rockwell Collins also saw an improvement in the cabin electronics category, with a third-place 7.6, up 3 percent over last year’s fifth-place ranking.