Textron Aviation Jet Deliveries, Order Book Climb In Q1

Textron Aviation saw better-than-expected business jet deliveries and a significant increase in its order backlog in the first quarter, parent company Textron reported today. Citation jet deliveries for the first quarter, historically its lightest delivery and new-order three-month period in any year, totaled 28 jets, including five copies of the recently announced CJ4 Gen2. This compares with 23 jet handovers in the quarter a year ago. Despite the strong showing on jet deliveries in the quarter, turboprops were down by 2 units, to 14, compared with the same period last year.

Order intake also jumped, with backlog at the end of the quarter totaling $2.1 billion, resulting in a book-to-bill ratio of 1.57:1. That compares with $1.6 billion in backlog and a 0.9:1 book-to-bill ratio in the fourth quarter.

“I think the overall demand environment is…more positive,” Textron president and CEO Scott Donnelly said on a conference call this morning with analysts. “You’ve got more people looking to acquire aircraft than we’ve seen in quite some time, so the level of activity, the number of customer interactions, is certainly quite strong.”

Revenue for the quarter was $865 million, down $7 million from the same period last year, primarily due to lower aftermarket volume. But the quarterly segment profit of $47 million was up by $3 million from a year ago.

Leaders Push for Equitable, Accessible Aviation Future

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti appealed to lawmakers to work with stakeholders and regional leaders to establish basic standards to create urban air mobility (UAM) networks that are safe, sensitive to local communities, intermodally linked, and accessible to everyone, not just the wealthy. Garcetti was among a half-dozen witnesses outlining their visions for the future of aviation Wednesday during a House aviation subcommittee hearing.

Among others testifying were MagniX CEO Roei Ganzarski, who said battery technology is currently sufficient to carry up to nine passengers about 500 miles, and Boom Supersonic founder and CEO Blake Scholl, who estimated that his company’s XB-1 supersonic demonstrator would take flight by early next year.

Garcetti said the FAA should co-author UAM standards with the community and evaluate ways to create a national standard while also respecting local zoning and land-use policies. He also stressed the need for equity. Ganzarski noted that MagniX’s electric propulsion system is on track for FAA Part 33 certification in 2022 and said it “is a real possibility for smaller all-electric aircraft to start flying people and packages on short routes within the next four years.” Scholl, meanwhile, outlined plans to break ground on the factory to build the Overture supersonic airliner next year and launch production of the Overture in 2023, followed by rollout in 2025 and first flight in 2026.

Airbus Helicopters Orders Plunge 26 Percent

First-quarter results posted this morning from Airbus Helicopters reveal that the pandemic pain in the OEM rotorcraft patch is far from over, with new orders and deliveries falling sharply. New orders fell by 26 percent to 40 net orders, compared with 54 in the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, deliveries dropped to 39 helicopters, down by eight aircraft from a year ago.

The new orders included two Super Puma-family helicopters and one H160. The overall order book dropped 5 percent, to 664 helicopters, from 702 in the same period a year ago. Still, first-quarter earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) actually increased 17 percent to $75 million, compared to $64 million in the first three months of 2020, thanks to increased service revenues and unspecified reductions in program and research and development spending. Overall revenues dropped 2 percent, to $1.425 billion, from $1.455 billion in first-quarter 2020.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury characterized the results as “positive,” noting that Airbus Helicopters was able to increase its bottom line for the period on the strength of growing service revenues.

Bizav Broker Mente Partners with Venture Capital Firm

Aquila Aviation Ventures, a new group focused on investing in promising private aviation firms, has been established through a partnership between venture capital firm City+Ventures and business aircraft brokerage and consultancy Mente Group. As a result, Omaha, Nebraska-based City+Ventures will invest in Dallas-based Mente, which will be one of two companies operating under Aquila. The other is Millbrook Air, a New York-based aircraft management and charter operator previously operating under City+Ventures.

Leading Aquila as CEO will be Brian Proctor, previously Mente’s president and CEO. “Aquila Aviation Ventures will identify and invest in high-growth firms within the private aviation sector,” he said. “And as part of the partnership, Mente Group has been recapitalized, providing it with growth capital to expand its platform and provide new and innovative services. The Millbrook operation will serve as a launch point for new products and concepts, taking advantage of unfulfilled segments in aviation.”

City+Ventures co-founder Danny White explained that his firm’s expertise in identifying high-growth companies with a focus on customer experiences in industries—including construction, auto dealerships, and real estate management—will mesh well with Proctor’s aviation expertise, ultimately benefitting Aquila.

State Dept. Moves To Ease Access for Aviation Activity

NBAA praised a recent move by the U.S. State Department to permit international aircrew into the U.S. for the purposes of training, aircraft pickup, delivery, or maintenance. The State Department this month provided exceptions from Covid-19 restrictions affecting international travel from certain regions for individuals traveling on B-1/B-2, B-1, or M-1 visas, or through the Visa Waiver Program, NBAA said.

Presidential proclamations have restricted entry into the U.S. for most international travelers from China, Iran, Europe’s Schengen Area, the UK, Ireland, Brazil, and South Africa.

“NBAA appreciates the…efforts to allow international visitors to enter the U.S. for purposes of continuing education and flight training, as well as for aircraft pickup, delivery, or maintenance,” said NBAA director of flight operations and regulations Brian Koester. “Over the last year, we have heard from many aviators based overseas eager to resume training in the U.S. Such training is crucial to ensuring the safety of our skies, especially as pilots return to pre-Covid flight activity.”

In addition, aircraft maintenance and manufacturing are important contributors to the economy, he said. “Permitting international visitors to travel to the U.S. to participate in these activities is a positive step in the economic recovery from the global Covid-19 crisis.”

ForeFlight Labs Releases Taxi Routing Editor

ForeFlight has opened features for user testing in its new ForeFlight Labs, and the first is called Taxi Routing, which lets users chart their course from the ramp to the runway and vice versa. Taxi Routing uses the same bubble editor format as ForeFlight’s regular flight planning but adds some useful conventions to help plot the course to or from various locations on the airport, including a runway (after landing) and FBOs (pre-departure).

Taxi Routing can go from an FBO to the runway, from a runway to another runway, from a runway to an FBO, or from FBO to FBO. At present, the feature doesn’t include airline gates or other areas of the airport.

This latest release of ForeFlight, version 13.3, includes other new features. Dynamic wind speed and temperatures layers show animated wind speed and temperature forecasts anywhere in the world. Time and altitude sliders allow the user to view forecasts at various altitudes. The layers are both saved for offline viewing, but it only stores the information for the flight-planned route.

In addition, ForeFlight released a toggleable day/night mode for the Airport 3D view so pilots can see what an airport’s runway lighting looks like from any viewing angle. Other new features include drag-and-drop file importing and background downloads, which allows users to use other apps while downloading new data.

Textron Aviation Signs Deal with Avfuel for SAF Supply

Avfuel has signed an agreement with Textron Aviation to provide the Wichita airframer with a continuous supply of Neste sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as part of its sustainability initiatives. The SAF now will be routinely used for Textron's customer demonstration flights, as well as “fly away fuel” for new aircraft deliveries.

Textron received its first demonstration load of SAF at its headquarters in February, and this latest move makes it Avfuel’s first OEM customer to take the fuel on a regular basis. Each 7,800-gallon truckload of blended SAF will provide a 22-tonne reduction in carbon emissions over its lifecycle, equal to the amount of carbon sequestered by nearly 29 acres of U.S. forests per year.

“Avfuel’s collaboration with Textron Aviation is welcomed progress for business aviation’s sustainability initiative,” explained Keith Sawyer, the Michigan-based fuel provider’s manager of alternative fuels. “It’s not only an exceptional way for Textron Aviation to reduce its carbon emissions, it’s also an excellent way to introduce flight operators to the viability of sustainable aviation fuel.”

Last month Textron Aviation sister company Bell announced that it would begin the integration of SAF into its rotorcraft training and demonstration fleet.

Other airframers have also embraced SAF in their operations. Gulfstream has used the renewable fuel for more than half a decade, while Bombardier has fueled its customer demonstration fleet with SAF since 2017.

Demand Pushes First Wing’s Charter Fleet Additions

First Wing Charter and Management has added two Cessna Citation twinjets to its fleet, citing “significant year-over-year increases in charter operations.” The addition of a Citation Bravo and Excel push the Indianapolis-based Part 135 operator’s fleet to seven aircraft, which includes two Citation Sovereigns, two other Excels, and a Bravo.

“We’ve seen the demand for private air travel increase, especially in the past year due to the pandemic,” said First Wing general manager Andy Yergler. “People are realizing the benefits of private air travel, from increasing efficiency in business travel to minimizing the risk of Covid-19 exposure. We are seeing more first-time charter fliers use charter for leisure, and we expect the momentum to continue.”

First Wing is owned and operated by Eagle Creek Aviation, which provides aircraft sales and maintenance and operates First Wing Jet Center FBOs at Indianapolis Executive Airport in Zionsville, Indiana, and Frankfort/Clinton County Municipal Airport in Frankfort, Indiana.

BJT Webinar: Air Charter 101

If you've taken only a few private charter flights—or are thinking about taking your first—you likely have lots of questions. That’s understandable, given how many options and providers exist and how widely costs vary. AIN sister publication Business Jet Traveler is here to assist with a free Webinar on May 4 that will walk you through every step of the process, helping you to know what questions to ask to get the most out of your charter experience.

BJT editorial director Jennifer Leach English will moderate an expert panel of speakers that include AIN editor-in-chief Matt Thurber and senior editor Charles Alcock, along with Avinode Group CRO and co-founder Per Marthinsson and AirPSG owner—and frequent air charter customer—Michael Ryan.