Print edition: 
The CEO of Cessna Aircraft's parent company said he still has faith in the business jet market despite continued declines in revenue and profits at the Wichita planemaker.
Cessna's second-quarter revenue fell 27.1 percent to $635 million compared with the same period a year ago. Profit dropped 93.8 percent to $3 million.
"We continue to believe business jet demand will recover as long as the global economy continues to expand and still believe 2010 will be the trough year for Citation deliveries," Scott Donnelly, president and CEO of Textron, said during a conference call Wednesday.
Cessna delivered 43 jets in the April-through-June period, down from 84 a year ago.
It ended the quarter with a $3.7 billion order backlog, down $400 million from the end of the first quarter.
Cessna had a number of order cancellations, including a large order for Citation Mustangs from a European fleet operator, Textron officials said. Orders for light to mid-size jets increased in the quarter.
Cessna has been experiencing weakness in the demand for Mustangs. To adjust, it reduced the delivery outlook for the jet for 2010 to 70, Donnelly said. Last year, the company delivered 125 Mustangs.
Activity has been tracking as expected this year but slowed in June amid European debt concerns that shook business confidence around the globe, Donnelly said.
It's not clear how long that pause will last, he said.
"We're still monitoring how the pace of the economic recovery might impact demand," Donnelly said.
For the first half of the year, Cessna posted sales of $1.07 billion compared with $1.64 billion a year ago. It has posted a loss of $21 million in 2010 compared with a $138 million profit for the first half of 2009.
Textron posted revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, up from $2.6 billion a year ago.
Net income at Textron was $82 million for the quarter, up from a loss of $58 million a year ago.
