Today, the Cessna name is synonymous with luxury private jets, dating all the way back to the 1960’s! One of Cessna’s single bestselling jets is the Cessna Citation X, which also couples as being one of the fastest business jets currently on the market!
Over the course of its 22 year long production history, Cessna produced 339 Citation Xs and Citation X+s (a lengthened variant of the jet) making it one of Cessna’s most popular super mid-sized jets to date…
Pre-Cessna Citation X
In 1968, Cessna had released the Cessna Citation I, the company’s first business jet. Eventually proving to be quite successful, the company would release the Citation II in 1978, which would prove to be quite successful too.
Building on the Citation II’s success, Cessna would release the Cessna Citation III in 1983. The Citation III was similarly successful, having a number of civil and military variants (including the Citation Bravo and T-47A trainer for the US Navy).
However, the Cessna Citation family was designed to be practical and have good handling qualities, which often translated into slower cruising speeds and shorter ranges (when compared to the aircraft produced by industry leader, Learjet).
Seeking to outcompete Learjet, Cessna began to ask operators of the Citation family what they liked about the jet, and in particular, what they didn’t like about the jet, or wished the jet did better.
Cessna found that customers generally liked the practicality and good handling of the jet, but disliked the inferior cruising speeds and range, as well as the lack of a pressurized baggage area. Many also wanted a slightly larger aircraft too.
With this information in hand, Cessna would begin development of a brand new business jet it called the Cessna Model 750, less than eight years after having introduced the Citation III (which eventually also became the Citation VI and VII).
Development
Initial development of what would become the Cessna Citation X would begin in secret in early 1990, with Cessna conducting more market research to ensure that the Model 750 would sell well.
Following this, Cessna would announce the Model 750’s development at the NBAA Convention in October 1990, with the Cessna announcing that the jet would enter service in August 1995.
It was here, at the NBAA Convention, that Cessna would receive well over 100 orders, both from private and corporate buyers.
Cessna’s design of the Model 750 would focus heavily around lengthening the fuselage, in doing so, producing the firm’s first super mid-sized jet.
In order to make the jet faster, Cessna singled out the brand-new Rolls Royce AE 3007C engines, which were both more powerful and more fuel-efficient than the Garrett TFE731 jets used on the Citation III.
Cessna would make significant alterations to the cockpit’s avionics, as well as the aircraft’s fuselage, thus making it more aerodynamic (and thus fuel-efficient) which also allowing the baggage compartment to be pressurized!
Doing this, however, revealed that the aircraft’s wing was defective, thus delaying the jet’s entry into service.
To fix this issue, Cessna engineers embarked on a near-total redesign of the wing, which saw it become more aerodynamic as well as giving the jet a longer wingspan.
Operational History
Following this, the Cessna Citation X would first fly on December 21 1993, before being certified by most of the world’s major aviation regulators and delivered to its first customer, golfing legend Arnold Palmer in July 1996.
Private Jet
After the Citation X was delivered to Arnold Palmer, a series of other celebrities, sportsmen and other high-net worth individuals would receive, and begin to operate the Citation X.
For the most part, the private operators of the Citation X keep their ownership of the jet anonymous, often owning it through an anonymous company in order to avoid being mobbed by the paparazzi.
With that being said, there are several famous people who operate the Citation X as their personal jet, including businessman Larry Ellison, director Sydney Pollack and Formula One driver Nelson Piquet (among others).
For the most part, these jets are used by high-net worth individual for one of two reasons:
The first is as an alternative to flying first class. This is popular among many famous entrepreneurs and celebrities, who are often mobbed by fans and the paparazzi if they fly commercially, whilst a private jet is much more, well… private.
The second is more a matter of convenience and practicality. Due to the jobs or lifestyle of some high-net worth individuals, they fly rather last minute, which makes booking a plane ticket nigh on impossible, making a private jet much more practical.
As a super mid-sized jet, the Citation X has the ability to fly transcontinental, transatlantic and transpacific routes, whilst also being affordable enough to fly the jet on short-haul routes too.
Corporate Jet
Yet, it wasn’t just private buyers that acquired the jet. So did corporate buyers. In fact, there are many more corporate operators of the Citation X than private ones, mostly due to Cessna designing the jet towards corporate flyers.
Sadly, recent decades have seen much of the public turn against corporate jets, seeing them as a ouverte display of wealth as well as something that’s harming the environment.
Due to this, almost all of the Citation X’s corporate operators have also hidden their ownership of the jet through anonymous shell companies, to avoid public opinion of the company souring against them.
Thankfully, not all companies have done this. As of the time of writing, jet engine manufacturer, Honeywell, retailer, Target and automobile giant, General Motors (GM) all operate the Citation X as their corporate jet.
Regardless of his politics, the Citation X has proven to be such a good corporate jet that former President Donald Trump’s The Trump Organization has stored its famed 757-200 for the Cessna Citation X, which currently serves as “Trump Force One”!
As a corporate jet, the Cessna Citation X’s size and specs make it specially suited for flying both short and long-haul routes, thus negating the need for corporations to operate both a short-haul and long-haul aircraft (as some corporations do!)
Charter
Seeing the Citation X’s success as both a private and corporate jet, a number of executive air charter companies have acquired the jet, with it often becoming a mainstay of their fleet!
For the most part, these executive charter airlines market the jet as being one of the largest in its class. Whilst super mid-sized jets often have some of the largest cabins on the market, the Citation X’s cabin is the largest in its class.
Many of these executive charter airlines also market the jet as being the Bugatti of the sky – stylish, yet surprisingly versatile for whatever role you need it for (eg. vacationing, executive transport etc.)
As you probably imagine, these executive charter airlines also market the jet as the one that you need if you need to travel to somewhere in a hurry – owing to the Citation X being the fastest subsonic jet currently on the market!
On top of this, many of these executive charter airlines also market it for the short-haul market too, often when you need to fly in style or transport a few more people than a very light or light business jet (such as the Phenom 100/300) allow…
Although price will vary greatly depending on a number of factors (such as the executive charter airline, route, time of year etc.) it costs roughly $5,900 per hour to charter a Cessna Citation X.
Fractional Ownership
Yet it hasn’t just been executive charter airlines who have decided to try and capitalize on the Citation X’s success as both a private and corporate jet. So have fractional ownership companies.
Indeed, the largest operator of the Citation X is actually a fractional ownership company (Warren Buffett’s NetJets, who operate 81 Citation Xs) with most of them having bought several examples of the jet straight from Cessna themselves.
Here, fractional ownership companies sell fractions of the jet to different high-net worth individuals, which entitles that high-net worth individual to fly a predesignated number of hours on the jet each year for a low hourly fee.
Currently, the cost to acquire a Citation X will differ greatly based on the size of the share, after all, as a 1/3 share is larger than a 1/8 share, it should be more expensive (in theory anyway!)
As of the time of writing, a 1/3 share of a standard Citation X, can be acquired for between $700,000 and $1.25 million, whilst a 1/8 share can be acquired for as little as $250,000 (although there are very few companies selling 1/8 shares currently).
However, these services aren’t free. In exchange for providing fully trained pilots, airport fees and to make a profit, fractional ownership companies charge a monthly fee, which is often in the region of $21,000 for the Cessna Citation X.
Features
For most of the Citation X’s history, its most attractive feature has been its immense speed. Indeed, even despite the introduction of newer business jet, no jet to date has ever matched the Citation X in terms of its speed.
When compared to the average jet in its class, the Citation X is almost 15% faster, which is huge! Indeed, it’s so fast, that it even gives large, long-range and bizliner business jets a run for their money!
However, the Citation X isn’t just faster than its competitors, it also has a longer range than them too. When compared to the average jet in its class, the Citation X has roughly a 15% longer range, which is similarly huge for a jet of its size.
With that being said, when compared to newer super mid-sized jets like the Challenger 350, G280 and Praetor 600, their range is far greater than the Citation X’s!
Despite being one of the larger jets in its class, the Citation X’s cabin is actually slightly smaller than the average super mid-sized jet’s, mostly owing to the Citation X’s fuselage being skinnier than its competitors’.
Owing to this, the Citation X also has a smaller overall baggage capacity (although it’s still plenty big enough!) although this may be an issue if you tend to travel with an overly large amount of luggage.
Price
Prior to ceasing production in 2018, you could purchase a brand-new Cessna Citation X from Cessna for around $23 million. Whilst $23 million may seem like a lot, this is certainly on the cheaper side for private jets…
Since ceasing production, however, the only way to acquire a Citation X would be to do so on the secondary market. Thankfully, there are several Citation Xs (and X+s) currently on the secondary market!
For an older version of the standard Citation X, you could be looking at paying between $2 – $3 million, whilst a slightly newer Citation X could go for anywhere between $4.295 and $4.995 million depending on age and mileage.
By comparison, a relatively new Citation X+ can command a price tag of upwards of $10 million (as of the time of writing) whilst an older Citation X+ can command a price tag of between $7 – $8 million.
In terms of cost to operate, the Citation X is slightly on the more expensive side of things, costing roughly $2,720 per flying hour to operate the Cessna, compared to the G200’s $2,100 per hour or the Challenger 300’s $2,200 per hour.
The only jets that cost more to operate are trijet super mid-sized jets like the standard Falcon 2000 or the 1970’s-era Falcon 50, which are more expensive to operate owing to their additional engine.
Variants
Since entering service in 1996, the Citation X has proven to be quite successful, prompting Cessna to release several variants of the jet…
Citation X
As the most basic variant of the Cessna Model 750, the Citation X (also referred to as the “Standard Citation X”) is generally considered to be the weakest of the two Citation X variants.
Released in 1996, the Citation X was meant to be Cessna’s flagship aircraft, as the higher-end alternative to Cessna’s previous flagship – the Cessna Citation III/VI/VII.
Designed to be longer, the Citation X can carry more people over a longer distance than the Citation III/VI/VII could as well as having an updated cockpit, which reduced the chances of pilot error (which plagued the Cessna III/VI/VII in its early days!)
Citation X+
By 2010, the introduction of numerous newer super mid-sized business jets had begun to steal sales away from the Citation X. Seeking to remedy this, Cessna began to work on a significantly updated version of the Citation X.
Cessna would lengthen the jet slightly, thus giving the jet a larger fuel tank. Cessna would also give the jet more fuel-efficient engines, factory-standard winglets and an all-glass cockpit, as well as increasing the jet’s MTOW.
Initially dubbed the Cessna Citation Ten, Cessna soon renamed it to the Cessna Citation X+, simply owing to the fact that it still maintained almost 98% part commonality with the regular Citation X.
Specifications
| Specifications | Cessna Citation X | Cessna Citation X+ |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 72 ft 6 in (22.04 m) | 73 ft 7 in (22.43 m) |
| Wingspan | 63 ft 7 in (19.39 m) | 69 ft 2 in (21.08 m) |
| Height | 19 ft 2 in (5.85 m) | 19 ft 3 in (5.87 m) |
| Crew | 2 | 2 |
| Passengers | 9 – 12 | 9 – 12 |
| Cruise Speed | 978 km/h (608 mph; 528 kn) | 978 km/h (608 mph; 528 kn) |
| Range | 5,788 km (3,596 mi; 3,125 nmi) | 6,410 km (3,982 mi; 3,460 nmi) |
| Service Ceiling | 51,000 ft (15,545 m) | 51,000 ft (15,545 m) |
| MTOW | 36,100 lb (16,375 kg) | 36,600 lb (16,600 kg) |
How Safe is The Cessna Citation X?
When we think of the safest and most dangerous aircraft flying in our skies today, our minds naturally go to commercial airliners like the A320 and 747. For private jets like the Cessna Citation X, however, they tend to be forgotten.
And that’s for good reason too. After all, whilst a nice thing to daydream about, the sad fact of the matter is that only a small handful of the world’s population will ever fly on a private jet like the Citation X.
Yet, for those planning to fly on the Citation X, you are probably wondering how safe or dangerous the the Citation X really is…
Thankfully, the Citation X is actually extremely safe. In total. Cessna produced 339 Citation Xs and Citation X+s, only four of which have been involved in any form of aviation-related accident, including three hull-loss incidents.
Sadly, one of these three hull-loss incidents (where the aircraft was damaged beyond repair) resulted in five fatalities.
However, this incident was not the fault of the aircraft, but was instead due to ATC error, as an error by one of their controllers caused the pilots to begin their descent early, thus causing the aircraft to crash just short of the runway.
Looking at the Citation X’s other incidents were similarly not due to the aircraft itself, but instead things like pilot error or freak weather, in particular, tornados damaging hangared aircraft.
What’s it Like to Fly on The Cessna Citation X?
Over the course of writing this article, I have been fortunate enough to fly on the Cessna Citation X on several occasions (as well as the Citation X+) and I have to say that I understand why it’s so successful!
Prior to flying on the jet, I was well aware that the Citation X was the fastest business jet on the market. However, I never expected to actually feel how fast the jet really was…
Indeed, whilst on the jet, you can actually feel the power of the jet, with it feeling that you are going far faster than you would on another jet – something that’s eminently visible on long-haul flights, especially transatlantic and transpacific routes.
From a pilot’s point-of-view, whilst still a late-1990’s aircraft in many regards, the jet’s cockpit is surprisingly modern, which is one of the main reasons why the Citation X is loved by the pilots who fly it!
With that being said, I did find much of the cabin to be somewhat outdated. When the Citation X was released in the 1990’s, it was at the height of technology, however, technology has moved on giving the cabin a somewhat outdated feel.
Assuming you owned the jet and this is something that would bug you, you could choose to have a brand new interior installed, rather than buying a brand-new jet (something that has become very popular for the Citation X in recent years!)
What do you think of the Cessna Citation X? Have you ever flown on it? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Bill Word via Flickr.