Bell Helicopter Logs Record Number of Orders Over Past 14 Days

February 28, 2006

Dallas, TX - February 28, 2006 - The Helicopter Association International (HAI) wrapped up its Annual Convention today in Dallas, Texas and for Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company it was a record breaking show for helicopter orders. The success of Bell Helicopter at HAI is indicative of the positive growth Bell has experienced recently. Bell Helicopter took orders for 100 aircraft during the three-days of HAI, nearly tripling its number from last year. Coupled with the recent Asian Aerospace show held in Singapore, during the past 14 days, Bell has booked 140 helicopter orders.

"To put this in perspective, at HAI 2005, we had our best show in decades and took orders for 34 helicopters," explained Bell Chief Executive Officer Mike Redenbaugh. "This year we significantly increased that number, continuing to build our backlog. This validates our growth forecast as well as Textron's capital investment in the Bell business."

The success of Bell Helicopter at HAI and Asian Aerospace is illustrative of the success Bell has enjoyed all year across the entire spectrum of our helicopter products.

"Whatever the need whether corporate, offshore, firefighting or law enforcement, tourism, utility or any other mission, we have a helicopter that will meet the need," said Bob Fitzpatrick, Senior Vice President for Marketing and Sales at Bell Helicopter. "This versatility of our product capabilities coupled with our award winning customer support network is clearly the right answer for our customers because they have definitely responded."

At Asian Aerospace Bell took orders for 40 aircraft including 9 of Bell's newly unveiled 417s and 13 Bell 429s unveiled last year at HAI.

Bell's HAI order intake includes 100 aircraft including 46 Bell 417s and 33 Bell 429s.

"What was so fantastic about these two aviation shows was the spectrum of customers who purchased our products," Fitzpatrick said. "We took orders from major corporations, emergency medical service providers as well as individuals. And the orders came from all of our geographic regions around the world. We have a healthy backlog with customers taking delivery positions into 2010."

"We have sound, reliable, dependable products and the excellent customer support to back them up," Redenbaugh said. "We continue to strive for balance in our business and we are on the right track with expansion in the commercial market paralleling the growth we have experienced in our military products."

Bell Helicopter is an industry-leading producer of commercial and military, manned and unmanned vertical lift aircraft and the pioneer of the revolutionary tilt rotor aircraft. Globally recognized for world-class customer service, innovation and superior quality, Bell's global workforce serves customers flying Bell aircraft in more than 120 countries.

Textron Inc. is a $10 billion multi-industry company with 46,000 employees operating in 36 countries. The company leverages its global network of aircraft, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO and Greenlee, among others. More information is available at www.textron.com.

Forward-looking Information: Certain statements in this report and other oral and written statements made by Textron from time to time are forward-looking statements, including those that discuss strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; or project revenues, income, returns or other financial measures. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the statements, including the following: [a] the extent to which Textron is able to achieve savings from its restructuring plans; [b] uncertainty in estimating the amount and timing of restructuring charges and related costs; [c] changes in worldwide economic and political conditions that impact interest and foreign exchange rates; [d] the interruption of production at Textron facilities or Textron's customers or suppliers; [e] Textron's ability to perform as anticipated and to control costs under contracts with the U.S. Government; [f] the U.S. Government's ability to unilaterally modify or terminate its contracts with Textron for the Government's convenience or for Textron's failure to perform, to change applicable procurement and accounting policies, and, under certain circumstances, to suspend or debar Textron as a contractor eligible to receive future contract awards; [g] changes in national or international funding priorities and government policies on the export and import of military and commercial products; [h] the adequacy of cost estimates for various customer care programs including servicing warranties; [i] the ability to control costs and successful implementation of various cost reduction programs; [j] the timing of certifications of new aircraft products; [k] the occurrence of slowdowns or downturns in customer markets in which Textron products are sold or supplied or where Textron Financial offers financing; [l] changes in aircraft delivery schedules or cancellation of orders; [m] the impact of changes in tax legislation; [n] the extent to which Textron is able to pass raw material price increases through to customers or offset such price increases by reducing other costs; [o]Textron's ability to offset, through cost reductions, pricing pressure brought by original equipment manufacturer customers; [p] Textron's ability to realize full value of receivables and investments in securities; [q] the availability and cost of insurance; [r] increases in pension expenses related to lower than expected asset performance or changes in discount rates; [s] Textron Financial's ability to maintain portfolio credit quality; [t] Textron Financial's access to debt financing at competitive rates; [u] uncertainty in estimating contingent liabilities and establishing reserves to address such contingencies; [v] performance of acquisitions; [w] the efficacy of research and development investments to develop new products; and [x] bankruptcy or other financial problems at major suppliers or customers that could cause disruptions in Textron's supply chain or difficulty in collecting amounts owed by such customers.

Connect with Textron IR

David Rosenberg, Vice President, Investor Relations
(401) 457-2288
Kyle Williams, Manager, Investor Relations
(401) 457-2288

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