Earlier this week at a Cessna Citation owners conference in Wichita, Cessna President and CEO Scott Ernest responded to a blog in Tuesday’s Flying eNews entitled “Cessna CJ Hiatus: End of the Niche Jet.” The article wondered what Cessna’s slowdown in Citation production, announced earlier in the week, might mean in the long run for the company’s place as light jet leader. In his remarks, Ernest sent what he called a “strong message” that Cessna is not cutting back on its light jet commitment but is simply scaling back production to “meet demand.”
“Citations,” Ernest said, “lead the light jet segment and Cessna is fully committed to our current products in that category.”
What that commitment looks like in terms of actual numbers is harder to say. Cessna communications VP Stephanie Harder told Flying in an email that “CJ production has been and still is ongoing.” When asked for details, she declined to reveal production rates but confirmed that all four light jets were currently in production at some unspecified rate.
Ernest continued his remarks to underscore some of the company’s recognized strengths in the light jet market, stressing that “Cessna’s strength will continue to be seen around the world and is backed by the absolute best workforce in aviation, innovative new products and service solutions hitting the market this year, and the most dedicated customer base in the industry.”
