The Monday launch by Cessna of its Citation Latitude light-midsize jet threw the balance of power in the midsize market into a bit of a tizzy in a number of surprising ways.
The airplane at first seems an odd way for Cessna to innovate to win back market share in the light to midsize bizjet game. At first glance, the neo-Mustang-branded, CJ-platform M2 also seemed a strange way to create the next entry-level Wichita bird. After a few more looks, it’s nothing short of brilliant. With a CJ derivative, you get more speed, a roomier cabin, a nice lav, better legs and proven design all without cutting a single sheet of new metal in the process. Yet Cessna upped the ante by improving the engines, adding FADEC, putting in Garmin touch-controlled glass, and throwing in cutting-edge styling to create an airplane that’s a combination of tried and true and brand spanking new. And they were able to do this while cutting the price by a lot more than a million bucks.
