Nextant Aerospace has delivered its 10th production unit of the 400XT, the only FAA-certified remanufactured business jet. The “N” registered aircraft was delivered to a private client that will operate the plane in a traditional corporate flight department environment. Nextant reached this production milestone just seven months after gaining FAA certification, and is on schedule to deliver 32 aircraft by the end of 2012. With production fully underway, Nextant has ramped up its staff, going from 28 employees a year ago to more than 150 today. Each 400XT requires nearly 6,000 person-hours to produce because of an extensive remanufacturing process, which effectively makes it a new plane in all material aspects by taking all life-limited components to zero-time status, either through replacement or complete overhaul.
This delivery milestone comes on the heels of Nextant’s recent announcement that it has acquired a larger remanufacturing facility for the 400XT. The new facility, at Cleveland’s Cuyahoga County Airport, will accommodate an annual production rate of 48 aircraft to meet higher than projected demand for the 400XT, both in the United States and globally. Nextant’s current book of orders is approaching 70 aircraft to be delivered over the next five years.
