Textron Aviation issued a brief statement March 8 that summarily ended the production of its long-running King Air C90 line, as well as the mid-size Citation Sovereign+. The 90-series King Air, in one version or another, had been manufactured since 1964; the latest model was the King Air C90GTx. The Sovereign has been in production since 2004.
“The Beechcraft King Air product lineup, meanwhile, recently introduced the newly upgraded King Air 260 and King Air 360 turboprops to the market. The King Air C90 series aircraft, which celebrated its first delivery in 1971, will forever be remembered as the pioneer of the King Air family of products.”
Textron went on to say that C90, Sovereign, and Sovereign+ airplanes will continue to receive service and support through the company’s extensive global service center network, as well as its product and support teams.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association reported in its 2020 year-end shipment report that only eight C90GTx twin turboprop, and only six Sovereign+ twinjets were delivered last year. In the same time period, there were 20 deliveries of the King Air 250 (the 260’s non-autothrottle predecessor), 26 of the Latitude, and 18 of Textron’s latest jet, the Longitude.