Textron rolled out the first production Cessna SkyCourier on Thursday and the clean-sheet turboprop twin package freighter will go to launch customer FedEx. The aircraft is Cessna’s first new twin in decades and marks an aggressive play for dominance in the regional freight market. “The SkyCourier brings an impressive combination of cabin flexibility, payload capability, performance and low operating costs to the twin engine utility segment,” said Textron CEO Ron Draper. “We look forward to this highly versatile aircraft entering the market very soon.”
The aircraft first flew in May of 2020 and is expected to achieve certification by the end of this year. It incorporates “monolithic machining” in its production, one of a host of production innovations. “With this technique, major assemblies are milled from a single piece of metal rather than assembled from smaller pieces, reducing the overall number of parts and resulting in a more precise tolerances for easier assembly,” Textron said in a news release.
