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Cessna cancels contract with Vought to create business jet

Cessna Aircraft has cancelled plans to build a large business jet, for which wing assemblies would have been manufactured in the Vought Aircraft plant in Nashville. The two companies confirmed the cancellation last Thursday.

The Columbus, as the jet was named, was supposed to go into production in 2011 and would have created new jobs at the Vought plant.

“We suspended work on the Columbus project about three months ago, and now have formalized the decision because of the condition of the world economy and the business-jet aircraft marketplace,” said Bob Stangarone, VP for corporate communications for Cessna.

Last year, Cessna announced that it was giving a $1 billion contract to Vought to build wing assemblies for the Columbus, a $27 million 12-seat business jet that would’ve been the largest jet ever built by Cessna.

The aircraft manufacturer was also planning to build a $780 million factory in Kansas that would have created 1,000 jobs to work on the Columbus.

“It’s a different world today than it was a year ago," Stangarone said. "With the realities of the marketplace and the global economy, we felt it was a prudent decision to cancel the program."