Big Cessna deal to lift local plant

Vought says contract for business jet could be worth more than $1B

Email | Print By Geert De Lombaerde

Cessna's Citation Columbus

Vought Aircraft Industries, which runs a large manufacturing plant near Nashville International Airport, has won a large contract to build parts for Cessna's latest business jet.

The deal to make wings and slats for the Model 850 Citation Columbus is potentially worth more than $1 billion, Vought officials said. The Nashville plant, which covers roughly 2 million square feet and employs more than 1,000 people, will handle the production and manufacturing engineering work of the contract. Vought's Dallas-area operations will take the lead on engineering and tool design.

"This contract is especially momentous," said Dan Tharp, Vought's general manager in Nashville. "This is our plant's first new full wing contract in 20 years."

Today's news continues a remarkable renaissance for Vought's local operations, which for years worked under the Aerostructures flag. Founded as Stinson Aircraft Co. in 1939, the plant in its early years cranked out, among others, the Vultee Vengeance dive bomber and P-38 Lightning. It later shifted its focus to commercial planes, with Airbus and business jet makers Cessna and Gulfstream as its main customers.

After a series of corporate changes, Vought acquired Aerostructures in 2003, then announced a year later it would shut the plant, only to reverse field under new CEO Elmer Doty.

Vought's local team has been building Cessna's Citation X. Test parts for the Columbus will begin rolling off the line in 2010, with full production starting a year later.

Vought is owned by private-equity powerhouse The Carlyle Group. Cessna is a unit of Textron Inc. (Ticker: TXT)