Five years ago, Ron Draper became president and chief executive officer of Textron Aviation at the age of 50. Earlier this year, Draper talked to King Air magazine about what he calls his “not normal” career path from farmer to the C-suite, the importance of faith and family in his life and his enthusiastic return to flying, including getting in the left seat of a Beechcraft King Air 360.
When he stepped into the top role at the world’s largest manufacturer (by units) of business jets and general aviation aircraft, including the Cessna and Beechcraft brands, Draper called company founders Walter Beech, Olive Ann Beech and Clyde Cessna his aviation heroes. Combined with the next generations of company leaders, including Frank Hedrick at Beech and Dwane Wallace and Russ Meyer at Cessna, Draper says he is in awe of the “perseverance, humbleness and incredibly, awesome legendary leadership” they exhibited in
building the brands and influencing the Wichita community as well as the aviation industry.
Clyde Cessna formed his company in 1927, then his nephew Dwane Wallace led it for 40 years, followed by Russ Meyer. Walter and Olive Ann Beech started Beechcraft in 1932, and Olive Ann stepped into the role of president when Walter died in 1950, followed by her nephew Frank Hedrick becoming president in 1968. The companies merged in 2014 to form Textron Aviation, a subsidiary of industrial conglomerate Textron Inc.
“It’s humbling to stand on the shoulders of those types of giants, and I feel it’s my duty to continue to build on their success,” Draper said. “How do we take care of our employees? How do we ensure that we have the right products, the right service, the right processes so that this company that’s been here for 95 years will be here for another 95 years? My role is to keep that going and advance it.”
That history inspires him, he said, and also adds pressure to the job.
“But it serves as good pressure to me, because I respect where we came from, I respect that I do stand on the shoulders of giants. And that pressure is: I’ve got to do the right thing, long term, for this company, its employees, our brand reputation and our products. So how do we improve our facilities? How do we make the best airplanes in the world? How do we have the best customer service in the world? That’s what I wake up every day thinking about.”
Then there are the external factors that affect the company and its customers, and require his attention. Pressed to name a few, he said regulations influencing the industry, the FAA’s ability to keep pace with modernization and support certification of airplanes, climate change and the pressure on aviation as well as the rising costs of insurance for aircraft owners.
Foremost, though, he said he has spent his first five years as CEO focused on cultivating a healthy and engaged workplace for Textron Aviation’s 13,000 employees worldwide, 10,000 in Kansas. Tough economic times starting in 2008 took a toll on the culture that Draper said made him fall in love with Cessna and Wichita early in his career.
His path to CEO
Draper grew up on a farm in Idaho, a third-generation farmer whose ambition to learn and lead took him to the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, where he earned a degree in engineering management. He selected aviation from the U.S. Army officer branch options and went on to lead soldiers across the globe as a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter pilot and company commander.
Following his active service commitment, he entertained offers from John Deere, General Electric and many others before choosing to move to Wichita in 1999 to work at Cessna Aircraft Company. He was thrilled to be working in aviation, though didn’t have immediate aspirations to eventually holding the top position.
“That’s not what I set out to do,” Draper said of becoming CEO. “I did want to be a leader, I did want to have influence, and I did want to be successful. But I wanted to do it in a way that balanced my family and my work. I worked hard and I was fortunate I had the right opportunities. Textron kept developing and investing in me, and I had a supporting family who was game for all this.”
After five years in Wichita, where he earned an MBA from Wichita State University, Draper moved to fellow Textron company Bell Helicopter in North Texas. There he would lead procurement during a critical development phase on the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, a tiltrotor military aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing.
Next, he accepted a move to Georgia for his first executive role as vice president of Integrated Supply Chain for Textron Specialized Vehicles, the maker of golf cars and other commercial and industrial utility vehicles.
In 2011, the company gave Draper the choice for his next executive role between the two largest of the Textron businesses: Cessna or Bell. “It was Cessna 100%, because I fell in love with the culture here, the people of this company and our products.”
Back in Kansas, he oversaw the manufacturing operations for all Beechcraft and Cessna commercial products as senior vice president of Integrated Supply Chain. Under his leadership, Textron Aviation brought seven different products to market.
“Textron has a number of leadership development classes as you progress through every level, and that’s all very helpful,” he said, “but in my opinion, that’s maybe 10 or 20% of thinking about getting ready for big jobs. The remaining 80 or 90% is the school of hard knocks, learning by doing. I’ve been very fortunate that the career path I had prepared me by stretching me, from being a farmer to going to West Point – which I think is the best leadership school in the nation – to leading soldiers in the Army and then having a new job every 24 months within Textron, some of them very difficult, some with challenges, through upcycles and downcycles in business and within different industries.
“Without that, I would not have been as ready to be in this role. It stretched my ability to handle stress, my ability to balance work and life and prioritize what’s important.”
It wasn’t until 2016 that he started to understand he was on the path to be president and CEO.
Returning to the left seat
Throughout his career, Draper said, he was unwilling to compromise on balancing his commitment to his faith and family with advancing his career. To make room for work assignments often with long hours and raising four sons with his wife, he gave up his two favorite hobbies – golfing and flying – for nearly a dozen years.
Three sons are now in college and one is in high school, and he’s back to flying as a fixed-wing multi-engine commercial rated pilot – because he loves it and for the familiarity it gives him with customers, suppliers and working alongside the company’s customer service and engineering departments on product design and development.
“Getting inside the cockpit of one of our aircraft is always a privilege for me,” he said. “One highlight of this job has been reinvesting in my own pilot journey by starting with the iconic 172 and progressing through my Citation 525 type rating. Every aircraft has a unique place in our product line, but no other aircraft rivals the King Air in the turboprop market.
“I’ve had the pleasure of being a passenger on countless King Air flights, but I have been even luckier to have flown the King Air 360 myself. Talking about its power and agility does not compare to actually being in the cockpit and feeling its steady handling and dependable speed control. It’s straightforward to navigate through crowded airspace.”
Draper said he’s put an emphasis on learning to fly for other Textron Aviation executives, as well as employees at all levels by increasing the amount the company reimburses for earning a private pilot certificate. “I’m trying to infect everybody with this aviation passion,” he said.
That’s just one way he’s working on the company’s culture, which is centered on four values: be human, be trustworthy, be collaborative and be legendary.
“I hear from employees and customers that we are moving the needle,” Draper said. “We still have work to do but customers are saying they see a difference when they bring in their airplane for service or when they interact with employees. It doesn’t mean we don’t trip up or that we don’t make mistakes, but they are seeing a difference in how we react when we do.”
Draper said he “appreciates the passion King Air operators have for the product.” When asked what he hears most frequently from King Air owners and operators, he said, “We knew that upgrading the cabin environment was a priority for owners and were pleased to accomplish that with the recent King Air 260 and 360 upgrades. The new autothrottle capabilities are a plus for the pilot sitting up front. When you sit inside, you see that the cabin includes a stunning new look with craftsman-built cabinetry, partitions and side ledges, upgraded materials and finishes, and all new interior schemes. “Other upgrades include a lower cabin altitude at the aircraft’s certified ceiling of 35,000 feet – more than 10% lower when compared to the King Air 350i. From my experience, the improved cabin altitude level makes long flights much more comfortable.”
A commitment to the King Air
When asked for specifics about continued investment in the King Air family and the likelihood of seeing the King Air 90 series return to production (the C90GTx was discontinued in 2021), the public relations team noted that they have to be careful with forward looking statements. Draper offered this:
“Our renewed product upgrade strategy kicked off in earnest with our recent investments in the Beechcraft King Air 260 and King Air 360. Being able to give King Air operators benefits like reduced pilot workload with autothrottles and redesigned, luxurious cabins that enhance the passenger experience is as important as delivering the same versatility and reliability that has made the King Air so iconic. We are always considering new technological advances, performance enhancements and cabin refinements as we plan for future development. And, we do all of this based on the feedback we hear from our customers.
“In the last few years, we have stayed true to our product development strategy, combining clean sheet designs with regular upgrades to existing products.
“Our two newest programs have introduced fresh ideas to the turboprop market. Most recently, we released the new Cessna SkyCourier and it has been met with great enthusiasm worldwide.
Next in development for clean sheet aircraft is the Beechcraft Denali, expected to certify in 2025. As with all our product investments, customer input has been at the forefront of the Denali’s development. Recently, we announced that Textron Aviation is bringing the revolutionary Garmin Emergency Autoland system to the program. The Denali program has been making great progress, and we are confident that it will revolutionize the single-engine, high-performance turboprop segment. I was fortunate enough to fly the aircraft earlier this spring and couldn’t be happier with its performance and capabilities. Our customers are going to love flying the Denali.”
Finally, Draper, commented on the company’s commitment to supporting the existing fleet of Beechcraft King Air aircraft. The 60th anniversary of the iconic family of twin turboprops is next year; first flight was in January 1964 and the first unit rolled off the production line in September 1964. More than 7,600 King Air aircraft have been delivered with more than 6,000 still flying.
“One of the differentiators of Textron Aviation is our vast aftermarket offerings. With 250,000 aircraft delivered over more than nine decades, we remain dedicated to supporting the life of our legendary fleet. With a global network of authorized service centers staffed by skilled technicians, our commitment to comprehensive aftermarket support aims to maintain high levels of customer satisfaction while enhancing operational efficiency.
“We also recognize that having the right part at the right price is vital to our customers’ flying experience. To ensure this, we are expanding our parts distribution at our headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, by adding roughly 180,000 square feet. This upgrade will enable us to keep investing in inventory to support both new and out-of-production aircraft models.
“With pre-owned inventories at record lows, this is also a good time for customers to consider enhancing their aircraft with a variety of upgrades such as avionics, connectivity, autothrottle and ground cooling. I’ve seen very impressive cabin interior refresh options that transform the passenger experience and extend the life and enjoyment of legacy aircraft.”