The word for Cessna's appearance at this year's NBAA Show in Atlanta was "incremental." In contrast to last year's NBAA show appearance, the company had no major announcements to report but did note progress in several key areas, most notably in four new aircraft that were announced at last year's show.

The Citation CJ1 is reportedly on schedule for first delivery early next year, with an order backlog that extends into the second quarter of 2001.

The Citation CJ2 has begun flight test, prior to first flight, scheduled for late this month. The model prototype has been flying since April of this year. Type certification is expected in May 2000. Cessna reportedly has a backlog of 120 aircraft for this model.

The Citation Encore is expected to gain certification in spring 2000, with first customer deliveries later in the year.

Lastly, Cessna reported that the Citation Sovereign will fly with the Honeywell Primus Epic integrated avionics system, including an engine indicating and crew alerting system (EICAS). Cessna will start on the prototype in January of next year, with certification scheduled for 2003.

Unlike last year's slew of new orders, this year Cessna brought just one small order for five Citations from a Canadian dealer, Innotech-Execaire Aviation Group of Montreal. The order, valued at over $40 million, includes one Citation Sovereign, two Citation Excels, one Citation Encore and one Citation CJ2.