Textron Aviation Ships 41 Bizjets in 3Q Despite Strike

The 41 Cessna Citation deliveries in the third quarter outpaced the 39 business jets shipped by Textron Aviation in the same period a year ago, despite the four-week strike of its aircraft production workers that recently ended. Textron Aviation also delivered 25 turboprops (10 Caravans, three SkyCouriers, and 12 King Airs) in the quarter, down from 38 (14 Caravans, five SkyCouriers, and 19 King Airs) a year ago.

However, this manufacturing disruption will translate into fewer deliveries in the fourth quarter, Scott Donnelly—chairman, president, and CEO of parent Textron Inc.—said during the company’s third-quarter investor call. Donnelly wouldn’t discuss how many fewer aircraft would be handed over to customers in the current quarter but said the strike will result in about a $500 million reduction in forecast revenues this year at Textron Aviation.

He acknowledged that “strikes are not good” but said there was a silver lining: the company used this time to build up supply-chain inventory to bring aircraft manufacturing back to a more normal process as production workers return. COVID-related supply-chain issues have led to out-of-sequence and out-of-station work that erodes productivity, and Donnelly hopes the strike-facilitated inventory build-up will help put these inefficiencies in the rearview mirror. He aims to have the production line fully back up to speed by January 1.

In the first nine months, Textron Aviation handed over 119 Citations and 89 turboprops, flat from a year ago. Revenues and profits at the division during the first three quarters climbed marginally year over year to $4 billion and $466 million, respectively.

According to Donnelly, demand for Textron Aviation’s business jets remains strong and he is “very encouraged” by early sales of the Gen3 updates to the Citation M2, CJ3, and CJ4.