Textron Aviation’s production of Beechcraft King Airs remains hampered by lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and a machinists’ strike, though the company expects to accelerate deliveries of the twin turboprops in the second half of 2025.
That is according to Textron chief executive Scott Donnelly, who says the aerospace supply chain is broadly much improved from several years ago.
“The King Air line… is one of the more-challenging lines. It’s an older product line, in terms of tooling and documentation,” Donnelly said on 24 July during Textron’s second-quarter earnings call. “It probably was impacted more than anything else, in terms of… the challenges of going through the strike and all the Covid turnovers.”
Textron Aviation, which owns the Beechcraft and Cessna brands, delivered 10 King Airs in the second quarter, down from 21 in the second quarter of 2024. It delivered 16 of the type in the first half of the year, compared to 28 in the first half of last.
Staff reductions during the Covid-19 pandemic left manufacturing companies in numerous sectors short on skilled labour when demand returned. Textron Aviation’s operation was further disrupted by a month-long strike last year by workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
“It’s probably the last line to recover from a lot of the disruptions,” Donnelly says of the King Air production system.
But he says King Air output has “stabilised and is running much better,” adding that Textron expects “considerably higher” King Air deliveries in the third and fourth quarters of the year.
King Air issues aside, Textron Aviation has accelerated deliveries of other models. It handed over 49 Cessna business jets in the second quarter, up from 42 in the same period of last year, and four of its twin-turboprop utility aircraft SkyCourier, up from one in the second quarter of 2024. Textron Aviation delivered 20 Caravans last quarter, two fewer than in the prior-year period.
“The supply chain is much better than it was two years ago… The production ramp is going well,” Donnelly says. “We are right on track with where we expected to be… We will see good jet deliveries in the back half of the year, but also much stronger turboprop deliveries.”
Textron Aviation turned a $180 million second-quarter operating profit, down 8% year on year, with $1.5 billion in revenue, up 3% from the prior-year period.
