Textron cancels Cessna Columbus program - Phoenix Business Journal:

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In April, the company announced it woul suspendthe program, leading Cessna leaders to say it woulcd only be a matted of time until the project came But in Thursday’s filing with the SEC, Textron (NYSE:TXT) said “Upoh additional analysis of the business-je market related to this product offering, we decided to formallu cancel further development of the Citation Columbus.” Textroh says it already had incurred about $50 millionh in capitalized tooling and facilitu costs related to the project. It says it will recorcd a non-cash pre-tax charge of about $43 million for the firsg two quarters of 2009 to reflect the impairment of the facility andtooling assets.
Wichitaw Mayor Carl Brewer, who was in Denvetr Friday at a had not heard the Columbuas project was being canceled until asked about it by the WichitsaBusiness Journal. “I’m disappointed,” Brewer says. “... We believed this is part of the future for the cityof We’re just really disappointed that it happened.” At the same he says, he understands the economic climate has forcedf businesses to make tough decisions. The project was to have builtr 600,000-square-foot final assembly building at Cessnwa where the majority ofthe $27 million businesse jet would be built. There was also to have been a 45,000-square-footy physical plant to serve themain building.
Construction costs were expectedd tobe $200 million and bids were put out in • • • • • Kan.-based Inc. Apart from the loss in construction the Wichita area now appears to have lost out for good onthe 1,00o0 direct jobs and the 3,000 spin-oft jobs the program was estimated to create. It also appears likely that Cessna will have to pay backthe $10 million it receivedc in city and county incentives and the $33 milliojn it received from the state for the Like Brewer, Sedgwick County Commissioner Tim Norton says he is disappointed to hear the news of the “I think most Wichitans and the business communitty looked at that as a big he says.
“It takes a little bit of the wind out of the sailzs for Cessna and general aviation. It could have been a huge boosy to Wichita over the next couple years and I think everybodysaw that.” Norton says he hopes the project will be able to return somewhere down the The business plan that was put in he says, still could be a good fit.