Textron Aviation’s CEO On Rising Production, Hiring, More

WICHITA—With an order backlog totaling $7.85 billion in orders at the midpoint of 2025, Textron Aviation is “carefully working” to increase production to meet growing demand, company officials say.

Its backlog is up from $7.8 billion at the end of 2024 and $7.2 billion at the end of 2023, according to filings.

“We’re sold out on every product that we make,” said Ron Draper, Textron Aviation president and CEO.

With growing production, a growing aftermarket business and attrition, the company is hiring 100 employees a month.

“I don’t see that changing,” Draper said.

During a recent media briefing ahead of NBAA-BACE, Draper discussed the world market, regulatory environment, the state of the supply chain and other issues, along with new actions it is taking to build its workforce. 

Of its installed fleet, 50% of the jets and 44% of the turboprops are based in North America. Latin America, with 16% of its fleet, has not been a growing market but has been strong for many years, particularly in Brazil, Draper said. Europe, with 11% of the fleet, is a strong market although “flattish,” for the past few years.

The Asia-Pacific market, with 7%, has not been large for the company because it is a region that favors long-range jets.

However, “we think there’s more opportunities there, and we’re pushing hard for more expansion,” Draper said. Australia, which he calls “King Air and Caravan land” has been a good market with the company investing in maintenance facilities there.

Africa is a small market for business jets, although its jets are based in South Africa and other locations. It is a strong and growing one for turboprops, however. “We have a number of good customers in Africa flying Caravans.”

Passage of a new tax bill by Congress reinstated accelerated depreciation for business aircraft, which will boost the industry. But with manufacturers’ backlogs out 18 months to two years or more, its passage will not spur new aircraft sales, Draper notes. It will, however, drive more activity into the pre-owned market, especially in younger aircraft, where inventory is already light, he said. 

“So, it’s a very, very healthy market right now.”

Regulations And Certification

The industry is working to improve regulatory and regulatory agency issues, said Draper, who serves as vice chair of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. It is pushing for “speed and common sense” in certain aircraft certification and bilateral agreements, and getting the FAA, EASA and other regulatory bodies around the world to honor them, he said. “How do we get them working together to make it more efficient on OEMs to certify a product in this country and it’s an easier path to get recognized?” he said.

The FAA is listening, Draper said, with positive changes taking place.

FAA backlogs of certification projects have improved after going into the “deep freeze” during the pandemic and amid challenges related to the Boeing 737 MAX, Draper said. While it’s moving, in some cases, the FAA must move faster. “We’re working on that,” he said.

In some cases, regulatory agencies may have only one or two experts in a particular area, which slows projects.

To help, young FAA engineers come to Wichita at times to learn from the company’s engineers in specific areas, such as in the lab or in certification and non-destructive testing, Draper said.
“I like the direction they’re going,” he said.

A New Way

The need to hire 1,200 employees a year is the reason Textron Aviation opened a new, $40 million 100,000 ft.2 Career and Learning Center dedicated to recruiting, hiring, onboarding and training at its East Wichita campus.

Inside a dedicated simulated factory environment, employees train for weeks on a fuselage, wing or other areas.

The company recruits from those leaving the military and from technical schools, but finding experienced technicians remains a challenge.

“We’re having to train more and more people that want a job that don’t have experience or skill,” Draper said. “That’s why we built this center."

It offers nine State of Kansas approved apprenticeship programs, he said. In some cases, a new employee works half a day on site and the other half earning a technical certification through Wichita State University. It offers paid internships to high school and college students and a week-long program for educators.

“Just about every angle we can think of ... we’re working on,” Draper said. “It’s having a positive impact.” A labor shortage is a challenge found across the industry and in all industries.

Since the center opened in April, new employee turnover has declined 20-25%. In some cases, old training methods on the shop floor were “too much, too fast,” he said. “They were overwhelmed.”

A shortage of skilled labor is also the cause of some supply chain bottlenecks along with capacity levels. Supply chain issues have improved from two or three years ago. But “it still takes 100% of the parts to build an airplane,” Draper said.

During the pandemic, some suppliers of raw material castings and forgings consolidated facilities. It made sense when demand was lower, but when demand takes off, “now you have a problem,” he said. “We just work through them.”