WICHITA, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Cessna Aircraft Company, a subsidiary of Textron
Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, today announced it
has delivered the first fractional Cessna
Citation Latitude midsize business jet to NetJets,
Inc., a Berkshire
Hathaway company. Today’s delivery represents significant milestones
for both NetJets and the Citation product line. This aircraft represents
the 7,000th Citation delivered worldwide, reinforcing the Citation
family as the established leader in business jet travel.
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Pictured from left to right: Kriya Shortt, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Textron Aviation; Adam Johnson, CEO, NetJets; Doug Henneberry, Executive Vice President of Aircraft Asset Management, NetJets; Bill Noe, President and COO, NetJets; Scott Ernest, President & CEO, Textron Aviation (Photo: Business Wire)
To celebrate this milestone delivery, NetJets and Textron Aviation held
a special ceremony today at Textron Aviation headquarters in Wichita.
During the ceremony, NetJets announced that due to owners’ great
response to the Latitude, the company has added 50 more options to its
initial order placed in 2012, bringing its total order and options up to
200 aircraft.
“The Cessna and NetJets relationship extends more than 20 years and our
newest certified business jet is a perfect fit for their operations,”
said Scott Ernest, President and CEO, Textron Aviation. “The Citation
Latitude’s performance and value proposition equates to increased
productivity for NetJets’ owners, while giving them large-cabin
amenities at a midsize cost. We are thrilled the aircraft has become one
of the fastest selling aircraft in NetJets’ history.”
NetJets has been operating two demonstrator aircraft throughout the
United States and Europe to showcase the Citation Latitude to NetJets
owners ahead of the aircraft entering its fleet.
“The midsize Citation Latitude business jet gives our owners and their
guests best-in-class performance, size and comfort. As the newest
NetJets offering, the Citation Latitude is a great addition to our fleet
of the world’s best aircraft,” said Adam Johnson, CEO, NetJets. “With
the Latitude we will continue giving owners unparalleled service and
safety, while advancing our long term relationship with Textron
Aviation.”
NetJets’ first Latitude is expected to enter into service in July and
will be part of the fractional provider’s North American fleet that
includes four other Cessna models: Citation Encore/Encore+, Citation
Excel/XLS, Citation Sovereign and Citation X aircraft.
With a maximum range of 2,850 nautical miles, the Citation Latitude can
fly non-stop from key U.S. cities such as Los Angeles to New York and
Chicago to San Francisco. With a flat floor and six feet of cabin
height, the Latitude affords the most open, spacious, bright and refined
cabin environment in the midsize category. Improving cabin comfort for
passengers and crew alike, the Latitude features a new cabin cooling
system and a new pressurization system. The system provides a 5,950-foot
cabin altitude when the aircraft is at its maximum operating altitude of
45,000 feet, allowing owners to arrive at their destinations feeling
more refreshed.
Cessna began deliveries of the Citation Latitude last August and has
delivered 23 to customers around the world through the first quarter of
2016.
7000th Citation
Citation aircraft, now with 7,000 delivered,
are the most popular line of business jets in the world. With more than
35 million flight hours – far more than any of its competitors –
Citation aircraft allow customers to expand their business reach.
Since Cessna delivered its first Citation in 1972, the Citation brand
continues to set the standard in the business jet market. Citation jets
are renowned for their ability to combine reliability, efficiency and
comfort with advanced technology and class-leading performance. This
unique combination has resulted in a level of unparalleled quality
Citation operators around the globe have come to know and value.
“Throughout the years, the Citation line has evolved to meet the growing
needs of our customers and their missions,” Ernest said. “Smart
innovation and continuous product investments define our Citation models
today. From our leadership in the light jet category with our
class-leading Citation M2, CJ3+ and CJ4, up to our latest introduction
of the revolutionary super-midsize Citation Longitude, we are pairing
decades of proven reliability and performance with the latest technology
into the broadest product lineup of jets in the industry.”
Each of Cessna’s Citation models is designed to strike an enviable
balance between high performance, comfort and cost-efficient operation.
No other family of business jets offers such a seamless progression of
aircraft with extraordinary capabilities for the value proposition.
There are currently eight Citation models in production including the Citation
Mustang, Citation
M2, Citation
CJ3+, Citation
CJ4, Citation
XLS+, Citation
Latitude, Citation
Sovereign+ and Citation
X±. The company’s latest Citations in development include the
super-midsize Citation
Longitude, on schedule to fly this summer, and the Citation
Hemisphere, Cessna’s entry into the large-cabin market and planned
to fly in 2019.
About Textron Aviation Inc.
Textron Aviation Inc. is the
leading general aviation authority and home to the Beechcraft, Cessna
and Hawker brands, which account for more than half of all general
aviation aircraft flying. The Textron Aviation companies include Cessna
Aircraft Company and Beechcraft Corporation, bringing together decades
of unmatched experience in designing, building and supporting airplanes.
It provides the most versatile and comprehensive general aviation
product portfolio in the world through five principal lines of business:
business jets, general aviation and special mission turboprop aircraft,
high performance piston aircraft, military trainer and defense aircraft,
and a complete global customer service organization. Its broad range of
products include such best-selling aircraft as Citation and Hawker
business jets, King Air and Caravan turboprops and T-6 military trainer
aircraft, all of which are backed by the industry’s most capable global
service network. For more information, visit txtav.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, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex,
Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Bad Boy Off Road, Greenlee, Textron Systems, and TRU
Simulation + Training. For more information visit: www.textron.com.
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements
which may project revenues or describe strategies, goals, outlook or
other non-historical matters; these 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 statements are subject to
known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause
our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to,
changes in aircraft delivery schedules and cancellations or deferrals of
orders, the efficacy of research and development investments to develop
new products or unanticipated expenses in connection with the launching
of significant new products or programs; our ability to keep pace with
our competitors in the introduction of new products and upgrades with
features and technologies desired by our customers; and demand softness
or volatility in the markets in which we do business .
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Source: Textron