The 8,000th Cessna Citation jet has been delivered by Textron Aviation. The milestone delivery was of a Cessna Citation Longitude to Scotts Miracle-Gro.
Scotts Miracle-Gro is one of the world’s largest marketers of branded consumer products for lawn and garden care and a long-time Citation owner. This is the fifth Cessna Citation in the company’s fleet.
Textron Aviation employees and representatives from Scotts Miracle-Gro celebrated the milestone with a special delivery ceremony at Textron Aviation headquarters in Wichita, Kansas.
“A milestone like this wouldn’t be possible without all the owners and operators who love to fly our aircraft and trust the reliability and versatility of our Citation products,” said Ron Draper, president and CEO at Textron Aviation. “With more than 41 million flight hours across the globe, our customers continue to make Citation jets their aircraft of choice. I also want to thank our extraordinary workforce. Each and every one of you played a part in reaching the 8,000th Citation delivery.”
“The Citation is one of the most functional and reliable brands in the general aviation industry and I, along with the members of our flight department, congratulate Textron Aviation on the delivery of its 8,000 Citation aircraft,” said Jim Hagedorn, CEO of Scotts Miracle-Gro, a personal owner of the Citation CJ4, and former US Air Force F-16 pilot. “Reaching this milestone is a credit to the Cessna brand, which represents quality, design and attention to the entire flying experience – all things we were looking for as we add to our fleet of business jets.”
Cessna delivered its first Citation in 1972. More than 30 Citation models have been certified over the 50-year history of the Citation line. There are currently six Citation models in production: the Citation M2 Gen2, Citation CJ3+, Citation CJ4 Gen2, Citation XLS Gen2, Citation Latitude and Citation Longitude.
The Citation Longitude is a super-midsize aircraft with a range of 3,500 nautical miles (6,482km) and full fuel payload of 1,600 lb (726kg).
