Textron Cancels The Wide-Body Business Jet Program

While Textron had been saying since April that it would be cancelling the Citation "Columbus" wide-body program at Cessna, Cessna officials were confident it would be back in some form, and that it was "just a matter of time."

But the Wichita Business Journal reported late last week that Textron had filed paperwork with the SEC driving the proverbial stake through the heart of the project. “Upon additional analysis of the business-jet market related to this product offering, we decided to formally cancel further development of the Citation Columbus,” the filing said.

The project would have been an economic boon for Wichita, which has been hard-hit by the global economic recession. The Business Journal reports that Cessna was planning a $200 million complex that would have included a 600,000-square-foot final assembly building at Cessna, as well as a 45,000 square foot physical plant.  The planes were expected to have been sold for about $27 million each.

Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer did not know of the final cancellation until he was asked about it by the paper. Attending a National Association of Cities conference in Denver, he said “I’m disappointed ... we believe this is part of the future for the city of Wichita. We’re just really disappointed that it happened.”

FMI: www.cessna.com