Atlanta, GA – October 18, 2010 – Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced today at the 63rd NBAA Annual Meeting and Convention it has expanded its Citation customer service presence around the globe, with support locations and service established now on every continent except Antarctica.
“It has been an active year in customer service at Cessna,” said Mark Paolucci, senior vice president of Customer Service. “We’ve worked tirelessly to introduce and enhance programs through Cessna ServiceDirect to support our customers’ needs to get parts and service quickly and efficiently.”
Announced at NBAA 2009, Cessna ServiceDirect is a new way of providing support to Citation operators, offering a range of customer service options for Citation operators outside of the company’s service centers. This includes on-site maintenance operations and long-term logistics support including airframe & powerplant mechanic placement or contract support.
ServiceDirect Goes to Cairo and Prague
Cessna has recently partnered with Smart Aviation in Cairo, Egypt, to service Citations in the region at their facility. Smart Aviation is currently working to become a certified Citation service facility.
Cessna has once again teamed with fellow Textron company Bell Helicopter to bring enhanced Citation service availability to Eastern Europe by stationing Cessna maintenance technicians at the Bell facility in Prague, Czech Republic, to perform scheduled and unscheduled maintenance in the region.
First European Mobile Service Unit
Earlier this year, Cessna announced its first Mobile Service Unit in Europe will be in place by the end of 2010 to expand customer service to the growing Cessna Citation fleet in the region. The MSU will be positioned in France, and will cover an area including southern France, Geneva, northern Italy and northern Spain. As with the U.S.-based MSUs, the European version will be capable of a variety of maintenance functions from simple line maintenance to major repairs including engine changes.
The new Citation MSU will complement the company’s Citation Service Center at Le Bourget Airport near Paris.
New Citation Service Center in Valencia, Spain
Cessna will break ground on its new Citation Service Center in Valencia in early 2011 and will have the facility fully operational in 2012.
The new facility in Valencia will augment the Cessna Citation Service Center in Paris. It will include 62,400 square feet (5,797 square meters) of hangar space and about 58,600 square feet (5,444 square meters) of office, storage and shop space.
Citation Parts Center in Brazil
Earlier this year, Cessna teamed with its Brazilian sales and service partner TAM Aviação Executiva to establish a Citation parts warehouse in Jundiai to support the country’s growing business jet fleet.
In the past year, Cessna Parts Distribution International has opened two other regional parts distribution centers, both in cooperation with fellow Textron company Bell Helicopter. The first was at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to serve Europe, the Middle East and Africa, followed soon after with a warehouse in Singapore to serve Asia-Pacific.
Cessna Parts Distribution International is also opening a parts distribution center within the TAM Aviação Executiva facilities in Brazil. TAM has been Cessna’s authorized partner for aircraft sales and for service throughout Brazil since 1982. Brazil has long been one of the top markets for Cessna outside the United States.
Cessna expects the Jundiai facility to be operational by yearend.
Customer Service Field Support
Cessna is in the process of adding field engineers based in China and Australia as well as a regional support manager in Singapore to support the growing Citation fleet in those areas.
About Cessna Aircraft Company
Cessna is the world's leading general aviation company, based on unit sales, with five major lines of business: Citation business jets, Caravan single-engine turboprops, Cessna single-engine piston aircraft, aftermarket services and lift solutions by CitationAir. In 2009, Cessna delivered 754 aircraft, including 289 Citation business jets, and reported revenues of about $3.3 billion. Since the company was originally established in 1927, more than 192,000 Cessna airplanes have been delivered around the world, including more than 6,000 Citations, making it the largest fleet of business jets in the world. More information about Cessna Aircraft Company is available at www.cessna.com.
About Textron Inc.
Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, 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 Company, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Greenlee, and Textron Systems. More information is available at www.textron.com.