Senior Editor

Jerry Siebenmark

Continued strong demand for business aircraft and higher utilization of them provided lift for&nbsp;Textron Aviation’s deliveries, profit, aftermarket services, and backlog in the first quarter,&nbsp;parent company Textron reported today. Citation deliveries totaled 39—up from 28 in last year’s first quarter—while turboprops increased to 31 from 14 in the same period.

 


The Wichita-based aircraft manufacturer's revenue of $1 billion and $121 million profit—an 11.6 percent margin—was driven by a $152 million increase in piston, jet, and turboprop aircraft deliveries, to $646 million,&nbsp;in addition to a $61 million rise in aftermarket services, to $394&nbsp;million. Backlog swelled by $1 billion, to $5.1 billion, at the&nbsp;end of last month.

 


Textron president and CEO Scott Donnelly noted on an earnings call with analysts that aircraft pricing continues to remain favorable&nbsp;and demand is robust for both Citations and&nbsp;turboprops. “It’s across the whole portfolio: jets, King Airs,” Donnelly said. “Momentum continues to be strong.”

 


Deliveries and orders are largely “U.S. centric,” accounting for&nbsp;about 80 percent of jets&nbsp;and 60 percent of turboprops going to customers. “The dynamics from what we’ve seen over the last year kind of continued in the first quarter,” Donnelly remarked. He added that the company continues to see “a fair number” of new business aircraft customers entering the market, “which is encouraging.”

 


Production rates at Textron Aviation will increase throughout this year and may continue beyond that. “Certainly, with the demand that we’re seeing and the level of backlog, we’ll plan on continuing to raise those as we go into 2023,” Donnelly said.

 


Also during the call, Donnelly noted <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2022-03-14/cessna-skycourier-receives-faa-type-certification">type certification</a> of the Cessna SkyCourier last month&nbsp;and explained that deliveries of the clean-sheet utility twin-turboprop would begin this quarter.

Textron Aviation Deliveries, Backlog Soar in Q1

The Wichita-based airframer saw its backlog swell by $1 billion during the first quarter of 2021.

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