Raytheon Aircraft is at the show with its healthiest order book in two decades. The company is highlighting six aircraft at what is the debut Farnborough show for new man at the helm, Hansel Tookes. The president and chief executive talks to Mike Martin about his work since joining the company last year, market conditions and why the new company flagship, Premier 1, is not at the show.
Q What is the thrust of Raytheon Aircraft's presence at the show, in terms of your market message and products on show?
A We are offering transportation solutions for the 21st century and that covers everything from new and used aircraft to special mission aircraft, charter work or fractional ownership. At Farnborough, we have a mock-up of the Hawker Horizon, and on static display we have a Hawker 800XP, a Beechjet 400A, a Beech 1900D and three King Airs, a 350, a B200 and a C90B.
Q But not the Premier 1, your new light business jet?
A No Premier, and that's because we have three airplanes flying and we are busy finishing off certification. We want to make sure that all our assets are dedicated to the certification programme.
Q What is the schedule for certification?
A We expect to receive certification by the end of the summer with first customer delivery straight after. We have a fourth airplane ready to roll out and join the certification programme very soon.
Q How is business generally at Raytheon Aircraft?
A Excellent. In the first half of 2000, we delivered more new airplanes than at any time in nearly two decades. We have a backlog of $4 billion worth of airplanes and the picture is good across all models, whether piston aircraft, turboprops or jets. For our two new aircraft, the Premier 1 and the super mid-size Hawker Horizon, we have in excess of 400 orders: more than 250 on Premier 1 and 150 for the Hawker Horizon. The latter is phenomenal considering we have not rolled it out yet.
Q You joined Raytheon Aircraft a little under a year ago: what have been your priorities since joining?
A One priority has been customer satisfaction. We created the RAPAD (Raytheon Aircraft Parts and Distribution) system to improve our service to customers. We located out parts distribution operation at Dallas Fort Worth Airport to achieve greater same-day delivery rates. We want to move an 80% record to at least the mid 90s. We are working very hard to get there. If we are to deliver real customer satisfaction we have to have the right attitudes among all our people and that is a communications issue we are working on. We intend to be completely focused on the customer so that they will be delighted at every point in the whole process of dealing with us. Another aspect of this is continuing to focus in on quality and performance. We are looking to get 50% improvements in our manufacturing processes. This is a real personal thing for me because I get to fly the aircraft myself and I get to experience the same satisfaction as the customer.
Q Turning to the Beech/Pilatus PC-9 MkII primary trainer: what are its export prospects?
A We have just delivered the first of 45 airplanes to the Hellenic Air Force. I would say there are rich opportunities for an excellent trainer like this. I would say we could see an increase of 50% on the 700 airplanes (the T-6A Texan II) we are delivering to the US Air Force.
Q The UK Ministry of Defence is reported to be about to privatise all fixed wing military flying training: is this an opportunity Raytheon would pursue?
A I don't know anything about that. As policy we do not discuss who we talk to.
Q The aerospace market remains buoyant. Are you optimistic about future prospects?
A I have to be cautious about making forward-looking statements, so I will restrict myself to saying that I am very optimistic about Raytheon Aircraft.
Source: Flight Daily News
