Gary Hay, who started working on Cessna’s manufacturing floor in 1966 and worked his way up to CEO just over two years ago, retired unexpectedly from the Wichita-based airframer on June 30. Russ Meyer, president of Textron’s new aircraft sector and who was Cessna CEO and chairman from 1975 to 2000, announced he would serve as interim chairman and CEO until a permanent replacement is appointed. Candidates will be sought from both inside and outside the company.
The news of Hay’s departure took the industry by surprise, but the 59-year-old executive wasn’t available to comment on what precipitated his decision. A Cessna spokeswoman said there were “some differences in philosophy between him and other senior [Textron] managers,” over the transformation going on at all Textron divisions but that the decision had “absolutely nothing” to do with the recent downturn in orders and the diminishing backlog. The spokeswoman wouldn’t elaborate further. (Although orders are down, the 62 Citations shipped in the first quarter were just two units fewer than the tally for the same period last year. However, Cessna delivered only 106 single-engine recips in the first quarter, compared with 157 a year ago in the first quarter.)
