Textron Aviation saw business jet deliveries rise in 2014 despite a lower fourth quarter, The Wichita Eagle reported this week. The owner of Cessna and Beechcraft said it delivered 159 jets last year, a 12 percent increase. Fifty-fivewere delivered in the fourth quarter of 2014, down from 62 in the same quarter a year ago.The company reported a profit for 2014 of $234 million, compared with a loss in 2013 of $48 million, the newspaper reported. Textron CEO Scott Donnelly told investors he’s optimistic about the jet market in 2015, but didn’t elaborate about production outlook.Cessna is in the process of certifying its newest Citation, the Latitude, and rolled out the model’s first production jet this week.
“New jet customer interest is noticeably better than a year ago … and used aircraft is moving fairly quickly,” Donnelly told investors. “On balance, we believe our best path forward at this point is to remain conservative with respect to increasing production, and to continue on our path of new product development.” The Eagle also reported that deliveries of Textron’s Beechcraft King Air turboprops totaled 113 for the year. Textron Inc. acquired Beechcraft in March 2014, bringing togetherCessna, Beechcraft and Hawker under Textron Aviation.
