Wichita, the centre of the world's corporate aircraft manufacturing, is watching the recovery anxiously.
Graham Warwick/WICHITA
Any signs of a recovery in the general-aviation market are particularly welcome in Wichita, Kansas, where more than two-thirds of all the world's business aircraft are built. Shipments are up slightly, orders up substantially, backlogs at their highest levels since the early 1980s, and new models appear to be selling well.
Although there remain concerns over the robustness of the recovery, Cessna, Learjet and Raytheon are positioning themselves to profit while it continues. Products are being developed, and costs are being reduced, in an effort to offer recession-hardened corporate operators a new level of value-for-money.
Corporate-aircraft manufacturers have learned to live with two realities: most sales are to existing operators; and brand loyalty dominates purchase decisions. As a result, manufacturers concentrate on selling to their existing customers. A range of aircraft, with new products always in the pipeline, is essential to success, as Cessna has demonstrated.
The company's Citation series is the most successful line of business jets ever, with more than 2,200 delivered since 1972, and now consists of six different models ranging from the $3 million entry-level CitationJet to the $13 million high-speed Citation X - all of them introduced since 1989.
The current line-up consists of four straight-wing "light" Citations - the CitationJet, Bravo, Ultra and Excel - and two swept-wing mid-sized Citations, the VII and X. The CitationJet was launched in 1989 as a successor to the Citation I. The Bravo, launched in 1994, and Ultra, launched in 1993, are upgrades of the Citation II and V, the most popular models, respectively.
The Excel, also launched in 1994, is a widebody derivative of the V and effectively replaces the swept-wing Citation VI in Cessna's line-up. The Citation VII was launched in 1990 and is next in line for an upgrade, suggests marketing-support director Mike Fuhrman. The X, also launched in 1990, is the biggest and fastest Citation yet and breaks significant new ground for Cessna.
This line-up means that buyers of new Citations or operators of older examples have an unbroken upgrade path which leads from the owner-flown CitationJet to the corporate-flagship Citation X. The closely pitched aircraft are also in competition with each other, Fuhrman admits, acknowledging that the launch of the Excel has hit sales of the Bravo.
Learjet has announced its intention to regain ascendancy in the light business-jet market, a tough task given that it delivered 36 aircraft in 1994, compared with Cessna's 121. Since its acquisition by Bombardier in 1990, both the upgraded Model 60 and all-new Model 45 have been launched and the existing Model 31A is being repositioned to keep it in production alongside the two larger aircraft.
Within the wider Bombardier context, the Learjet 45 is one for three new business jets under development. The others are the long-range Canadair Challenger 604, to be certificated later this year, and the ultra-long-range Bombardier Global Express, to be certificated in 1998.
Learjet has pinned on the 45 its hopes of tapping the replacement market represented by some 1,000 Learjet 35s still in use. Priced at $6 million, compared with $4.5 million for the Learjet 31A, the aircraft is also aimed at owners of the Citation II and V, the principal market for the $6.4 million Excel. Cessna believes that its aircraft may also appeal to operators of older, but larger, business jets.
IDEAS in common
Both Cessna and Learjet sketch remarkably similar outlines of the genesis of the Citation Excel and Learjet 45, respectively. Both are market-driven designs shaped by input from advisory councils consisting of light business-jet operators. Both companies began by offering higher performance, but were steered towards greater cabin comfort.
Cessna originally offered a swept wing, but operators "overwhelmingly" opted for a larger cabin mounted on the existing Citation V straight wing, the company says. Learjet started out offering higher performance with the existing 30-series cabin cross-section, but responded to market demands by increasing fuselage diameter while maintaining 30-series performance, says vice-president, engineering, Bill Greer.
Cabin comfort is central to the design of both the Excel and Learjet 45, which represent a new class of business jet offering medium-jet comfort with light-jet costs. The Excel has the only stand-up cabin in its class, says Fuhrman, while Learjet has opted for a narrower, but longer cabin - longer even than that of the larger Learjet 60, says Greer. Large baggage volumes are also features of both designs.
Initial indications are that market-driven design leads to market success. Two years after launching the 45, Learjet has sold more than 50 aircraft, representing about two years' production. Six months after introducing the Excel, Cessna has around 70 orders, representing about three years of output. Although the initial order peaks may be passed, they have left respectable backlogs by today's standards.
Both manufacturers believe that the large cabins offered by their aircraft will win them access to the massive market represented by operators of Beech King Air twin-turboprops. Cessna initially targeted the lower end of this market with the CitationJet, but admits now that its cabin is too small for the aircraft to be offered against a similarly priced King Air.
Raytheon has delivered almost 5,000 King Airs, making them the most popular corporate turboprops ever, but has not introduced a major new model since the King Air 350 in 1989. Recently, the company has introduced lower-priced versions of the entry-level King Air C90 and mid-range King Air B200 in a bid to boost sales, but no new King Air appears to be in prospect.
The $1.7 million C90SE (Special Edition) is the cheapest corporate turboprop available and is designed to compete against the single-turboprop Aerospatiale TBM.700, Cessna Caravan and Pilatus PC-12, and to attract buyers of second-hand C90s. The $3 million B200SE has been introduced more recently to ease the transition from low-end to high-end King Air operations.
Following the market failure of the Beech Starship corporate turboprop, production of which has been halted after some 50 aircraft, Raytheon is concentrating efforts on the light to medium business-jet market, where it has the Beechjet 400A and Hawker 800 and 1000 - all designs acquired from other manufacturers.
No heavy iron
Asked about new products, chairman Art Wegner says that Raytheon is "working on a couple of things". He refuses to be drawn further, except to say that "the initial focus is on the jet side" and to emphasise that "we are not looking at 'heavy iron' [large business jets]; there is too much competition, too small a market and too much investment required."
He dismisses suggestions that the King Air could come under pressure from the new Cessna and Learjet designs. "I do not think the King Air is threatened. It is still a very, very attractive aircraft. Its payload is unreal compared with jets...and there is nothing like it in its niche," Wegner says, adding that "...propeller efficiency is hard to beat."
What Raytheon will do next is the big question among Wichita watchers. It is reasonable to expect some competitive response to Cessna's recent launches, which increase pressure both on the Beechjet 400 and Hawker 800. A product launch is expected at the Paris air show in June and an upgrade of the Beechjet 400 and/or Hawker 800, with new engines and avionics, is more likely than a completely new design.
Raytheon's business-jet output is no match for Cessna's, but includes production of the Beechjet-based T-1A Jayhawk tanker/transport trainer for the US Air Force and deliveries rose to a respectable 80 aircraft for 1994. The challenge the company faces, Wegner acknowledges, is sustaining production when the Jayhawk programme ends in mid-1977.
The timing of any new product is likely to coincide with the end of Jayhawk production and development of a Beechjet derivative - smaller or larger - would help fill the resulting gap in the assembly line. Simple replacement of the current 400A with an improved model, however probable, would not seem sufficient to offset the end of Jayhawk production.
Improvement of the Hawker 800 is also likely, although the future of the larger Hawker 1000 will not be decided until 1997. Assembly of the 800 is being transferred from the UK to Wichita and about 100 former British Aerospace employees are being offered jobs at Raytheon. These include design engineers required for "continuing engineering, updates and new products", says Wegner.
Pratt & Whitney Canada's new PW500-series turbofan, used on the Citation Bravo and Excel, seems well suited to a Beechjet development, while fitting AlliedSignal's new TFE731-40 would significantly improve the Hawker 800. New integrated avionics from Honeywell and Rockwell-Collins, featuring large electronic displays, are also becoming the standard for business jets.
Excel demand exceeds expectations
Cessna is studying ways to increase production of the Citation Excel to meet "phenomenal" demand for this widebody addition to its light business-jet line. Since the Excel was launched in September 1994, some 70 have been sold and the next delivery slots presently available are in mid-2000.
Responding to calls from operators for greater cabin comfort, rather than increased performance, Cessna has essentially combined the wing and systems of the latest Citation V Ultra with the fuselage of the Citation X, and the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW500 turbofans powering the new Citation Bravo, to produce the Excel. The result, says Cessna, is the only light business-jet with a "stand-up" cabin.
"Putting [available] parts together means a faster development time, the security of existing technology and high quality and reliability early on," says product-support manager Mike Pierce. First flight is planned for March 1996, with first deliveries in late 1997 after approval under an amended Citation V type certificate.
The Citation V wing is relatively new, Pierce says, and is adequate for the performance required. Span is increased by 1.2m to retain the V's good short-field performance and a new stretch-formed carry-through structure, already used on the CitationJet and Citation X, results in a flat, unobstructed, cabin floor.
The Excel cabin has the same cross-section as the "medium-large" Citation X and the same length as the mid-sized Citation VI.
Retaining Citation V reliability and maintainability were priorities for potential operators. The Excel combines proven V systems with the Ultra's Honeywell Primus 1000 integrated-avionics suite and uprated, PW545A, variants of the P&WC turbofans which will power the new Bravo, successor to the Citation II, when it is first flown in late March/early April. Honeywell Primus II radios replace the Ultra's AlliedSignal Bendix/King units and the Excel has the smoother-riding trailing-link main gear introduced on the Bravo.
The Excel even retains the traditional light-Citation cruciform tail, confounding those who believed the T-tail adopted on the CitationJet had become Cessna's new standard, Pierce admits. The cruciform tail provides more stability and a larger centre-of-gravity range, and gives the Excel a "blue-collar, working-aircraft" image.
Development is going well and the programme is on schedule, Pierce says. A third round of windtunnel tests was completed in January, confirming performance predictions, he says.
One prototype will be built. In addition, the first two production aircraft will be used in the certification programme, then delivered to customers.
Learjet offers style with comfort
The Model 45 is the first all-new Learjet for more than 15 years, the first to be developed from scratch under the ownership of Bombardier, and the first to be designed entirely on computer. It is unmistakably a Learjet, but its familiar exterior lines disguise the dramatically different approach taken to the conception and execution of a new Learjet.
When Bombardier acquired Learjet in 1990, it introduced the disciplined approach to developing new products which it had applied successfully to the Canadair Regional Jet. Approval to launch the Learjet 45 came only after two years of marketing and engineering work designed to reduce the programme risk. The "old" Learjet was a more "entrepreneurial" company, admits vice-president, engineering, Bill Greer.
As a result, the aircraft was already more defined when the go-ahead was given in January 1993 than any previous new Learjet at the same stage. "The programme is organised to minimise risk," says Greer, emphasising that the aircraft is not a derivative: "No part is from any other aircraft," he says.
Part of the pre-launch planning process was to identify resources existing within the Bombardier group of companies which could be used on the Learjet 45 programme, reducing costs. The wing is produced by de Havilland in Canada and the fuselage and tail by Shorts in the UK, for assembly by Learjet, and fewer than 250 people had to be added across the three companies to handle the programme. Traditionally, four times that many would be needed, Greer says.
From the outset, aircraft are being built on production tooling. The first Learjet 45 is nearing completion and will be flown in mid-1995, leading to certification in December 1996 and first deliveries early in 1997. "Quality of the first parts is very high," Greer says, adding that discrepancy and rejection rates are low compared to those in Learjet 31 and 60 production.
As all the tooling to support the planned production rate is in place from the outset, "we cannot afford to make a mistake", admits Greer. The aim, therefore, is for the first aircraft to be as close to the final design as possible. Extensive windtunnel testing has been completed, with the goal of avoiding design changes during flight test. More than 4,200 windtunnel runs have been completed using six models, says Greer, who contrasts this with Learjet founder Bill Lear's build-it-and-see, "windtunnel in the sky". philosophy.
Design-for-assembly techniques have reduced the parts count by 45%, compared with the smaller Learjet 31, says Greer. The aim is to reduce assembly man hours and production cost.
Raytheon name brings results
Raytheon Aircraft's newest product is the company itself, which was formed in late 1994 by the consolidation of Beech Aircraft and Raytheon Corporate Jets. The familiar Beech and Hawker names have become Raytheon brands and aircraft production is being consolidated at Wichita.
The aims of the new Raytheon Aircraft include becoming the lowest-cost producer of general-aviation aircraft, developing customer support that is "second to none", aggressively marketing its products and developing new products which exceed customer expectations.
Signs that some of these goals are being achieved came in the company's 1994 results, which showed record sales of $1.72 billion. This placed Raytheon well ahead of second-placed Cessna's $820 million in sales. "Performance profit-wise was exceptional in 1994," says chairman Art Wegner. Year-end order backlog was a healthy $1.2 billion.
Direct comparisons with Cessna are misleading, as Raytheon has a unique mix of private, corporate, commercial and military business. The delivery picture for 1994 was equally mixed: piston-powered aircraft down slightly; corporate turbines steady; regional turboprops up; and military aircraft up. Combined commercial and military turbine-aircraft sales were the highest in more than a decade - a total of 227 aircraft, compared with Cessna's 172.
Wegner attributes turbine-sector performance, particularly strong in the fourth quarter, to the June 1993 switch from dealers to factory-direct sales. He highlights the "outstanding performance" of the sales force throughout the transition at the end of 1994 as the two companies were combined.
Sales of the top-end King Air 350 and Beechjet 400A were up significantly in 1994 and, while Hawker 800 sales were steady (see table), nine were delivered in the fourth quarter. The 800 line is being transferred from the UK to Wichita, where assembly will begin in September. Production of the larger Hawker 1000 will continue in the UK until 1997, when a decision will be taken on whether to relocate or terminate the line.
Wegner has set a target of reducing the company's operating costs by 30% over five years. Major changes are under way at Wichita to streamline production, including moves to reduce set-up times and eliminate fixtures. Raytheon is also negotiating long-term partnerships with suppliers, to reduce prices, increase reliability and improve warranties.
Another major change under way is the merger of the Beech and Hawker customer-service organisations into a single product-support operation which will eventually include the United Beechcraft chain of fixed-base operations. Spares-supply systems are being combined first. Management is centralised at Wichita, with parts inventories distributed worldwide, says vice-president customer support John Diebold.
Raytheon is also approving selected Beech service centres to handle Hawkers and establishing a Hawker service network by auditing and approving some of the independent centres which have maintained the aircraft in the past.
Source: Flight International
