Cessna Ends 2000 With Solid Increase in Sales

Business Wire, Jan 25, 2001

Business Editors

WICHITA, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 25, 2001

Cessna Aircraft Company ended 2000 with a solid increase in sales, bringing Cessna's total revenues to approximately $2.8 billion. Cessna's total backlog of 1,385 units reached the $6.6 billion level, the largest in its history.

Of Cessna's 1,541 orders received in 2000, 415 were Citations (up 24 percent over 1999), 116 were Caravans and 1,010 were Single Engine models. Cessna's aircraft deliveries for 2000 totaled 1,258 units: 254 Citations, 92 Caravans, and 912 single-engine piston aircaft.

"Cessna concluded the year with a remarkable 49 Citation deliveries for the month of December, the highest number for a single month in Cessna's history," Cessna CEO Gary Hay said. "These numbers reflect the hard work and dedication of 13,000 Cessna employees."

Significant milestones consisted of the certification and first deliveries of the CJ1, Encore and CJ2; the official launch of the Citation Sovereign program; major enhancements to the world's fastest business jet, the Citation X; the Caravan fleet passing the four-and-a-half-million flight-hour mark; and the delivery of the 100th Excel.

In addition, Cessna announced new product enhancements for the 2001 single-engine product line and the addition of two new models, the 182T Skylane and Turbo 182T Skylane. This brings to six the number of Single Engine models currently in production.

Important key events for Cessna in 2000 included Cessna's new learn-to-fly web site for aspiring pilots, www.startflyingcessna.com; the groundbreaking of Cessna's new Citation Parts Distribution (CPD) facility; a revised, updated www.cessna.com enterprise web site; the dedication of the new Sacramento Service Center; and the announcement of plans to begin construction of a new Service Center in Orlando, Florida.

"Overall, Cessna has experienced a remarkable year of solid achievements," said Hay. "Throughout 2001 and beyond, we will continue to set standards for a heightened level of customer focus, an increasing number of process improvements across our company, and expanded professional growth opportunities for all Cessnans."

Cessna Aircraft Company is a subsidiary of Textron Inc. (www.textron.com), a $13 billion, global, multi-industry company with market-leading businesses in Aircraft, Automotive, Industrial Products, Fastening Systems and Finance. Textron has a workforce of 70,000 employees and major manufacturing facilities in 30 countries. Textron is among Fortune magazine's "Global Most Admired Companies" and Industry Week magazine's "Best Managed Companies."