NEW YORK – Textron Inc.’s new Cessna chief takes the helm at a time when the business-jet maker’s orders are rebounding more slowly than the company would like, CEO Officer Scott Donnelly said in an interview.
Textron hired Scott Ernest, a General Electric Co. aviation executive, on Tuesday to lead the Cessna unit, where operating losses widened to $38 million in the first three months of the year, as orders rose at a slower pace than the Providence-based company expected. Still, Donnelly said, he sees a pickup. Ernest joins Cessna as the planemaker prepares for a rebound, Donnelly said.
“Our outlook is that a slow, steady recovery is better than one that has a lot of fits and starts,” Textron’s chief executive said in a telephone interview. “We have a lot of product programs we’re ramping up — there’s just a lot of activity. I feel like this is a business that’s going to get back to being a crown jewel of the company.”
Ernest, 52, succeeds Jack Pelton, also 52, who retires on Wednesday. A 29-year veteran of GE, the world’s biggest maker of jet engines, Ernest most recently oversaw the division’s supply-chain operations. Donnelly led GE’s aviation unit until 2008 when he became Textron’s chief operating officer.
Cessna, the world’s biggest builder of business jets and general aviation aircraft, is recovering from slashed orders during the recession and the market is coming back more slowly than the company wanted, Donnelly said in April. The division, based in Wichita, Kansas, is focusing on reducing production costs, partly through a cheaper contract signed with assembly workers and mechanics in September.
Nurturing Young Executives
Besides his business acumen, Donnelly said Ernest also brings a talent for nurturing young executives, an important consideration as the market recovers, he said.
“I wanted someone who would do a great job of nurturing and developing talent at Cessna,” Donnelly said. “We’ve got a lot of great people, a lot of up-and-comers, you know, someone who really enjoyed bringing people all the way from sort of college entry and growing them and developing them in the business.”
Textron fell 37 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $22.52 at 10:09 a.m. in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares were down 3.2 percent this year before Wednesday.
Yeah, that’s the solution, Donnelly. Hire another GE hack buddy of yours to complete your circle of incompetence and finish running the company into the ground. I’m so glad I dumped all of my Textron stock years ago. Exactly when was the last time the stock had any value under your regime? Yeah, I thought so. When are shareholders going to demand a competent leader and not just some typical incompetent old white male?