The company also owns Lycoming Engines in Pennsylvania, a significant producer of aircraft-grade piston engines used in Textron-built aircraft like those from Cessna and Beechcraft. This integration helps reduce costs by addressing production issues at their source.
Founded in 1923 as the Special Yarns Company, Textron has grown significantly over nearly a century to employ more than 30,000 people across over two dozen nations. It consistently ranks among the nation's largest companies on the Fortune 500 list.
Textron Aviation was established in March 2014 after acquiring Beech Holdings for $1.4 billion. This acquisition merged Beechcraft with Textron's existing Hawker Aircraft business and later combined it with Cessna to form its general aviation subunit.
Scott Ernest became the first CEO of Textron Aviation when it was founded; Ronald Draper succeeded him in October 2018. The merger aimed to streamline operations while maintaining brand recognition.
After creating this new subunit, Textron faced challenges with declining sales and profits from its general aviation business. By January 2017, layoffs were necessary due to reduced demand for private jets and turboprop aircraft. That year saw first-quarter revenue fall by over $121 million and overall profits drop by more than half from $73 million to $36 million.
In response to poor sales figures for certain models like the Cessna 400—which only sold 23 units in 2017—Textron ended its production but expanded into electric aircraft by acquiring Slovenian manufacturer Pipistrel in 2022 according to AVweb reports. This led to establishing another business unit: Textron eAviation; however financial fortunes remain uncertain amid ongoing losses this year too.
Today’s lineup includes nineteen different models ranging from small general aviation planes up through medium-sized private jets—five being Beechcrafts such as G36 Bonanza or King Air series while fourteen others are various types within Citations' family range offering versatility between size capabilities across offerings like best-selling single-engine trainer classics alongside larger utility crafts plus jet options alike available throughout their catalog presently maintained via regional service centers providing maintenance support diagnostics wherever needed globally still now continuing onward yet ahead despite past hurdles encountered previously before during pandemic times recently seen then...
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