Cessna Partners with King Schools for Next Generation Flight Training

OSHKOSH, Wis.– Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, has extended its contract with King Schools to offer a new web-based pilot training curriculum. The program will be offered exclusively through the worldwide Cessna Pilot Center network.

The new curriculum will be developed in partnership with King Schools to prepare prospective pilots for the sport pilot certificate and beyond. The curriculum will incorporate the latest technology, an electronic logbook, a web-based course management system and much more. The sport pilot program will be available when the first Cessna SkyCatcher is delivered in the second half of 2009.

“We’re excited to continue our partnership with King Schools on this new, state-of-the-art flight training program,” said Tom Aniello, Cessna’s vice president, Marketing. “It is part of Cessna’s long-term strategy to continue to be the industry leader for flight training. We believe introducing this next generation flight training program in conjunction with the first SkyCatcher delivery is going to create opportunities for us to expand into new markets to reach more people to learn to fly. And, by incorporating the latest technologies, we will deliver the curriculum in the way people want to learn today.”

The Cessna Pilot Center (CPC) network consists of 275 domestic and 20 international affiliates. CPC has been the leader in flight training for 35 years, and Cessna’s partnership with King Schools dates back more than 10 years. Since 2000, CPCs have delivered private and instrument pilot training to more than 100,000 pilots around the world.