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Citations on the Wichita production line. Cessna is pinning much hope on the continued success of the Citation line and expects nearly half of their total 1984 earnings from the new Citation III
GA Says Goodbye and Good Riddance to ’83
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The year 1983 will go down in aviation history as the year of the great shakeout in the international General Aviation community. In 1982 the GA industry thought it was at its depths, just as it had in 1981 in comparison with 1980, if it was known then what is known now then the overall reaction might well have been one of justified suicide.
The figures speak for themselves. Companies such as Piper, Beech and Cessna who were during the halcyon days of 1978/79 producing aircraft at maximum capacity had seen their workforces decimated by successive retrenchments, entire lines closed and holding areas full of unsold and largely unwanted aircraft. In 1978 the US General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) produced in excess of 17,000 aircraft, the prediction for 1983 stands at around 3,000 units at best. Cessna’s employment has dropped from over 21,000 in 1978 to 7,400in early 1983, Piper is down from 6,300 to barely 1,300 workers while Beech, Lear and Gulfstream to a lesser extent have suffered similar fates. A lot of jobs lost, a lot of confidence gone in a year that was epitomised in the June sales figures which saw Cessna sell only 107 aircraft as against 197 in 1982 and 432 in 1981. Piper in this same month shipped 52, 62 and 238 aircraft respectively while Beech managed 56, 44 and 119. Overall sales have dropped by 50% between 1981 and 1982 and have fallen a further 40% in the past year.
Cessna has not produced any piston twins, other than the 303 Crusader, for more than a year while it is only recently that production has resumed of such familiar favourites as the venerable 172, 182, U206, 208and 210 Centurion. All three Citation models have survived production halts while the Conquest I (nee Corsair) has also re-entered production. The 152, 185and 188 lines will become active again early in the new year while the Piston twins will hopefully resume production by mid-year at the latest.
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