Story ID: 491
Textron Aviation Adds to Asia-Pac Efforts
By: Matt Thurber
Caption: Growing sales in the Asia-Pacific region are resulting in an expansion of Textron Aviation service and sales teams.
Word Count: 668
Textron Aviation is doubling down on its investments in the Asia-Pacific region, with new sales and support teams focused on helping the company grow market share in Asia and Australia.

“We’re trying to make a stronger push into Asia,” said Scott Ernest, president and CEO of Textron Aviation (Chalet CD11).

The company launched its commitment to Asia eight years ago, opening offices in China and building relationships with Chinese companies. Now, Textron Aviation boasts more than 1,500 aircraft in the Asia-Pacific region, about 1,000 of which are single-engine Cessna Caravan and twin-engine Beechcraft King Air turboprops.

To further strengthen sales and support in this region, Textron Aviation has tapped Jessica Pruss as president Asia-Pacific sales and marketing and Don Alvord as president of Asia-Pacific operations.

“What we’re seeing is that with the introduction of the Latitude and the Longitude,” Ernest said, "and the ranges that are required in this region, those airplanes fit much better with regards to what the customers are looking for. We are seeing good success, so we have to put the right support team into place.”

The new Citation Latitude and the soon-to-be-certified Longitude business jets are generating strong interest among buyers in Japan, South Korea, China, India, Australia, and New Zealand, according to Pruss. “It’s a large area,” she said, “and the mission and the range for that product, the cabin size and the comfort, and what the Citations are known for—their efficiency—it’s becoming quite an exciting discussion.”

Pruss has added more than 10 people to her Asia-Pacific sales team, which will focus on selling everything from piston-powered single-engine airplanes to turboprops and jets and special mission aircraft. Alvord’s team is focused on aftermarket (maintenance and upgrades) and parts sales.

“Bringing that together, which is different from what we’ve done before, is one team and one voice to the customer in a very disparate region,” Pruss explained. “Our overall investment strategy is centered around that.”

“We know we have great products,” said Alvord. “My job is to make sure after [the buying] experience is over, that it continues through the life of their ownership. We think no one can do that better than we can.”

Textron Aviation’s maintenance services are centered at its Singapore factory-owned service center and parts distribution warehouse at Seletar Aerospace Park. That location’s parts inventory has already doubled and will double again in the coming six weeks, he said. And customers can now view the inventory and buy parts online, a new capability for Textron Aviation in this region. Textron Aviation is also looking toward its next investments in Asia-Pacific service centers, with possible locations in the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, and Australia.

At the Singapore service center, the company has hired more maintenance technicians and is seeking additional field service representatives.

“Our hangar is filling up, and we needed more folks to [serve customers],” Alvord said. “And if you can’t get your airplane to us, we’ll come to you.” Textron Aviation can send “go teams” to help customers with maintenance issues anywhere in the region. “In the last four weeks, six teams have serviced aircraft in a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific.

“Nothing is better than a person centered here in Singapore who can look the customer in the eye and hear their concerns, or hear what we’re doing great, and make sure we improve on the stuff they’d like us to improve on,” he said. “That’s why I’m here, and why my team’s here.”

The recently announced twin-turboprop utility Cessna SkyCourier is also attracting significant interest in this region, according to Ernest. “The demand is unbelievable, because of its versatility to carry passengers or freight. People don’t want to order just one, they want 20. It’s exciting, we’re feeling good about this market.”