Story ID: 043May18
Textron Aviation Suspends Citation Hemisphere Program
By: Mark Huber
Caption: The company said it needs to address engine issues before moving forward.
Word Count: 529
Citing ongoing problems with Safran's Silvercrest engine, Textron Aviation announced on April 18 that it has suspended work on its large-cabin Cessna Citation Hemisphere. Textron chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly said the company is "waiting to see how the engine plays out. And then, based on that, we'll make our decisions and move forward knowing what the performance of the engine is."

Some aviation analysts think that Safran's ongoing engine problems might give Textron an off-ramp from, or at least further delay entry into, what was promising to be an already crowded new-model, large-cabin market. “Hemisphere always seemed a bit of a leap for Cessna, in terms of resources and market position,” said Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at the Teal Group. “It's particularly hard to make the jump to the top half of the market, where only Bombardier, Gulfstream, and Dassault play.

“The Silvercrest's problems might serve as a rationale to kill the program. Alternatively, Cessna could simply go with Pratt & Whitney Canada's PW800, as Dassault did. Looking at the spec change between the Falcon 5X and 6X, there wouldn't be much of an impact to the Hemisphere's performance goals,” he said.

Rolland Vincent, managing director of JetNet iQ, believes Textron is likely to defer the program rather than stay on the pre-announced program schedule. “They have still to certify and then sell bunches of Longitudes, which over time will provide them a natural step-up customer base for the redefined Hemisphere program,” Vincent said. “This is a major body blow to Safran, but not unexpected.”

Analyst Brian Foley thinks it still makes sense for Textron Aviation to pursue a large-cabin program, even if that means delaying it so it can be reworked with a new engine. “Whatever the outcome, it still behooves Cessna to eventually offer a new, top-of-the-line flagship product to allow loyal customers to trade up to and remain in the family,” he said.

As late as December 2017, Textron Aviation had reaffirmed its commitment to the troubled Silvercrest program, even though the engine's only other commercial customer, Dassault Aviation, then had canceled its Falcon 5X program due to continuing development problems with the engine. The problems eventually led Dassault to launch the Falcon 6X program in February and turn to P&WC’s PW800-series engine for that aircraft. It also prompted Safran to take a $720 million write-down against the Silvercrest program in 2016.

“We’re committed to being an industry leader and will not back off on the performance specifications we want for the Citation Hemisphere," a Textron Aviation spokesperson told AIN. "We remain in touch with Safran on the 18- to 24-month delay of the Silvercrest engine.”

A Safran Aircraft Engines spokesman said the company "is fully committed to continue and complete the development of the Silvercrest engine, all the way to certification, with our primary objective being to deliver to Cessna an engine in compliance with the specifications of its new Hemisphere. We are working on the high-pressure axial compressor optimization and improvements, and all the progress made has been shared regularly with Cessna.”
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