Cessna Takes First Place in 2010 Professional Pilot Product Support Survey


WICHITA, Kan., Aug. 13, 2010 – Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced today its Citation customer service was voted best in the industry by Citation operators in this year's Professional Pilot magazine annual product support survey.

"Our customer support organization has worked very hard over the years to continually increase customer satisfaction, and a strong showing in surveys like this was actually a stated company goal for 2010. This is a significant accomplishment for us," said Cessna Chairman, President and CEO Jack J. Pelton.

Cessna's scores improved in six of the seven categories in this year's survey from 2009.

"To have our Citation customers use their voice and recognize our efforts validates our dedication to them and their missions," said Mark Paolucci, Cessna's senior vice president, Customer Service. "It's important we see the programs we've implemented the last two years making a difference for our customers. We are dedicated to improving our scores every year," he said.

Paolucci said new service delivery methods played a vital role in winning the award this year. New features include the Air Response Team, a Citation CJ2 dedicated to responding to AOG situations, mobile service units and other ServiceDirect offerings.

Cessna currently has six mobile service units throughout the United States. MSUs are full-size service trucks equipped with tooling to perform a variety of Citation diagnostic and maintenance functions including AOG support. These units can also perform medium-sized planned maintenance events as well as engine removal.

ServiceDirect is Cessna's new offering designed to provide a range of customer service options for Citation operators. This includes maintenance operations and long-term logistics support, including A&P placement or contract support, at a location chosen by the customer.

In the past 18 months, Cessna has opened new parts distribution facilities in Europe and Singapore to speed spare parts support to growing fleets outside the U.S. The company has also bolstered its customer service engineering support by adding new engineers in a number of locations around the world.