Cessna to Halt Production of Citation CJ1+ Jet Aircraft Later This Year

Cessna has recently announced that they will be stopping production on their CJ1+ line of jet aircraft later this year. They plan to deliver the last CJ1+ late in the summer of 2011 around September or so. This is yet another example of how Cessna is reorganizing the company structure and eliminating under performing products. Most recently the company has also put a greater emphasis on servicing aircraft and training for aircraft operation. The Citation CJ1+ aircraft had a relatively short life span as it received final certification in 2005 and now six years later it will no longer be produced. There are a variety of contributing factors, that when all combined together have led to the ultimate downfall of this particular model. By all accounts the Citation CJ1+ aircraft was a solid light jet that was fairly priced with good performance capabilities and solid reliability.

It was certainly not a performance or reliability issue that led to the demise of this mode but rather a sluggish economy and the fact that the Citation CJ1+ aircraft was trying to fill a niche that obviously was not there. The CJ1+ model was initially brought on board by Cessna as a model that would fill the gap between the Mustang and the CJ2+. Unfortunately it now looks like there really was not a solid market or demand for a product between the two existing models. In fact, since the beginning of production in 2005 there have only been 104 total Citation CJ1+ aircraft built and the orders ground to a screeching halt last year with only 3 orders. Cessna had only received two orders so far this year for the Citation CJ1+ jet aircraft, which certainly is not enough to deem it a worthy product line that should continue to be produced.

This announcement is probably not a big surprise to those who are familiar with Cessna’s Citation line of products. The company has been cutting production in recent months as they restructure in an attempt to strengthen the financial standing of the company and focus on the stronger lines of business that they already have. Cessna first began producing the CitationJet in 1993 which was renamed the CJ1 in 1998. In 2005 the model underwent some modifications and was renamed again, this is when it changed to the CJ1+ name. As a result of cutting this model from the current line Cessna will be able to reallocate some of their resources to focus on production of more profitable lines. Although it is a blow to those who were employed in the production of the CJ1+ this should help the company overall and get them back on solid ground.