Business jet deliveries fuel Textron Aviation’s promising Q1

An uptick in business jet deliveries drove a promising first quarter of business for Textron Aviation.

The aircraft manufacturer delivered 28 business jets from January to March compared to 23 over the first three months of 2020.

Revenue was down $7 million from the first quarter of 2020, but segment profit in Wichita ballooned from $3 million to $47 million year over year, according to Textron Aviation’s parent company.

In a call with analysts Thursday morning, Textron CEO Scott Donnelly said his company has capitalized on increased demand for planes as the airline industry starts to rebound from a tumultuous year.

“You’ve got more people that are looking to acquire aircraft than we’ve seen in quite some time, so the level of activity — the number of customer interactions — is quite strong,” Donnelly said.

The International Air Transport Association warns that air travel likely won’t reach pre-pandemic levels until 2024, but Donnelly said he’s optimistic that the industry will continue to bounce back in the coming months.

“Customers are starting to travel. You’re starting to see more of that, and I think that as that happens, we’ll see more and more corporate-level flight department buying activity pick up,” he said.

Textron Aviation made two fewer commercial turboprop deliveries in the first quarter — 14 Cessna Caravans and Beechcraft King Airs compared to 16 in the first three months of 2020.

The company ended March with a backlog of $2.1 billion, up $452 million from year-end 2020.