Who Owns Cessna And Where Are Its Jets Built?

In casual lexicon, if you hear someone say that they saw a 'Cessna' flying around, there's a good chance they mean a small, single-engine, civilian propeller aircraft. Something like the iconic Cessna 172 Skyhawk. In fact, you'll sometimes hear people refer to any small, single-engine civilian plane as a Cessna, regardless of who actually made it. In reality, while indeed the Cessna 172 is among the most popular single-engined aircraft of all time, Cessna's aviation footprint goes far beyond just those small planes, into business jets and even, at times, military aircraft. And Cessna's current and longtime parent company, Textron, has an even wider presence across the aerospace, transportation, and defense industries.

For the past decade plus, Cessna has operated as part of the Textron Aviation group, which also includes Cessna's formal rival, Beechcraft, along with other smaller aviation companies. Though Cessna has evolved a lot from its humble 1920s origins, through new decades of corporate ownership, the state of Kansas has always been Cessna's home base. Today, Kansas is still the place where the vast majority of Cessna aircraft are built across two different factories.

Clyde Cessna founded his aircraft company back in 1927 with the launch of his innovative monoplane that would set an industry standard for years to come. In the following years, Cessna would be taken over by Clyde's nephews, and the popularity of Cessna planes skyrocketed in the post-World War II years with models like the 172 Skyhawk and 182 Skylane. Soon, the silhouette of the high-winged Cessna had become one of the most recognizable shapes in aviation. By the 1960s, Cessna had expanded into jet-powered aircraft with its Citation line of business jets. 

Though the company's primary focus has always been on civilian aircraft, Cessna has built planes for military service, including the T-37 trainer and the A-37 Dragonfly attack aircraft, which was used during the Vietnam War. Cessna was purchased by General Dynamics in 1985, though the ownership was short-lived. Textron, the massive industrial conglomerate, acquired Cessna in 1992 and has owned the company ever since. In 2014, Textron acquired Beechcraft Corporation, which was, for decades, one of Cessna's primary rivals in the civil aviation market. Together with Beechcraft, Cessna became part of the new Textron Aviation segment. 

Beyond the main Textron Aviation division, Textron also owns Bell, the famed helicopter maker of choppers such as the Bell UH-1 Huey and the legendary Bell AH-1 Supercobra attack helicopter. Textron Systems also builds a wide variety of defense equipment, including drones, unmanned watercraft, armored vehicles, and electronic systems.

Cessna's headquarters can be found near the Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita, and the Wichita facility is also where many of the company's aircraft are built, including the larger Citation jets. Cessna isn't the only aircraft maker to call Wichita home, either. In fact, the entire region is known as the 'Air Capital of the World', with over 450 aerospace companies and suppliers in Wichita. In addition to the Wichita facility, Cessna also has a factory in nearby Independence, Kansas, where a lot of its small single-engine planes are built, along with the smaller Cessna Citation M2 jet. 

In addition to its main Kansas operations, Cessna has also worked with Chinese partners for local production in that region. There's also a factory in Mexico that manufacturers aircraft components, and for a brief period in the late 2000s, there was a Cessna factory in Bend, Oregon. With a lineup that includes some of the cheapest and most popular starter aircraft on the market, up to large Cessna Citation business jets that cost upwards of $30 million, Kansas-built Cessna planes continue to be a common sight in the skies as the company closes in on the 100th anniversary of its founding.