Currently CCO, Succeeds Lisa Atherton

Textron, Inc. announced that Danny Maldonado was promoted to President and CEO of its Bell rotorcraft division. The appointment is effective January 4, 2026, and he succeeds Lisa Atherton who was recently promoted to President and CEO of Textron, Inc.

As the Chief Commercial Officer, Maldonado has been responsible for Bell’s global commercial aircraft sales and aftermarket solutions, the Bell Academy, and new product development. Before that he was President and CEO of Textron Financial Corp. for nine years.

Maldonado joined Textron in 1990 and has held leadership positions in sales, business development, customer support, and finance.

Scott Donnelly, Textron Chairman and CEO said, “Danny is a proven leader with a long track record of success at Bell. He will lead Bell at an important time as we accelerate activity on the MV-75 program and continue to invest in leading commercial helicopter programs.”

Maldonado takes the reins during a critical time for the manufacturer. Bell is in the early phases of developing the new MV-75 tiltrotor program for the U.S. Army, which will become the company’s high-profile product for the next decade and beyond.

The new aircraft ramp up gets underway as Bell’s longtime workhorses are likely approaching the end of their production. Those include the MV-22 Osprey and the H-1 line of attack and utility helicopters, although a potential deal with Ukraine could extend the lifetimes of the venerable AH-1Z/UH-1Y line.

Bell is also the only finalist in the next-generation X-plane competition organized by DARPA, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, that could find the company working on advanced tiltrotor technology even beyond the MV-75.

On the civilian side of things, the long-delayed 525 super medium twin has been in development since 2012 and its certification is a major item on Bell’s list of to-dos.

FMI:  www.bellflight.com/ , www.textron.com/