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Demand for business jet travel by cautious passengers avoiding commercial flights during the pandemic has helped drive U.S. private traffic above 2019 levels.
Business jet makers, eager to capitalize on that demand, say they are working with suppliers to mitigate the impact of global shipping and supply chain disruptions, along with the spread of the highly-contagious Omicron variant.
“We have been ramping up the production rate. We continue to do that and expect to continue to do that throughout the course of 2022,” Textron (NYSE:TXT) chief executive Scott Donnelly told analysts on Thursday.
But Donnelly said the maker of Cessna business jets would be cautious with any increases and not “want to do something stupid and try to go radically accelerate production rates and then burn down backlog.“
On Wednesday, Gulfstream-maker General Dynamics Corp (NYSE:GD) beat fourth-quarter profit estimates, helped by strong growth in its aerospace unit.
Corporate aircraft maker Bombardier (OTC:BDRBF) reports results on Feb. 10.Textron’s Donnelly said supplier issues have not slowed down production rates or 2022 deliveries. A temporary spike in Omicron cases at the turn of the year, however, had some impact on operations.
The U.S.-based company, whose product lineup also includes helicopters, reported a fourth-quarter revenue miss, with its aviation division delivering 46 jets in the quarter, down from 61 a year earlier.
It delivered 167 jets in 2021, up from 132 in 2020, and reported an aviation backlog of $4.1 billion at year end.
The company expects revenue of about $13.3 billion for 2022, compared to analysts’ estimates of $13.56 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data, with earnings per share between $3.80 and $4.00. It reported revenue of $3.32 billion in the three months ended Dec. 31, below analysts’ estimate of $3.44 billion.
