Hawker Beechcraft is delaying the anticipated service entry of its Premier II light business jet for more than two years to "better align with the anticipated rebound of the business aviation market", says company chairman and chief executive Bill Boisture.
The schedule adjustment comes on the heels of a sombre second quarter, where deliveries were down by 40% from the 129 aircraft delivered in the same quarter in 2008. The continued downturn prompted the company to implement additional layoffs to a workforce that had already been cut by 25%.
Hawker Beechcraft earlier this year had estimated a second quarter 2010 service entry for the twinjet, which has elliptical winglets, Williams International FJ44-3AP engines and Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics. The model, an upgrade to the company's six-seat Premier IA, is expected to come online no earlier than late 2012.
Despite the slowdown, Boisture says progress is being made. In addition to the first successful test flight of the new Williams engines on a modified Premier IA, he says the first Premier II fuselage is on the assembly line in Wichita and the first flight of initial prototype is on schedule for December.
Source: Flight International
