By Rob Finfrock

CJP Members know that there are an awful lot of Citation jets out there, flying their owners and passengers throughout all corners of the globe… but when that abstract thought is backed up in print by an impressive number, it still seems more than a little daunting.

Recently, Textron Aviation announced the delivery of the 7,000th Cessna Citation aircraft – a Citation Latitude, for fractional operator NetJets – since the original Model 500 entered service in 1972.

As the company’s newest standard bearer in the midsize jet segment, the Model 680A Citation Latitude offers a maximum range of 2,850 nautical miles, a flat cabin floor and a cabin height of six feet. Cessna began Latitude deliveries in August 2015; other Citations under development include super-midsize Citation Longitude and the large-cabin Citation Hemisphere, scheduled to fly in 2019.

The Latitude is the fifth Citation type to join the NetJets fleet, in addition to the Citation Encore/Encore+, Citation Excel/XLS, Citation Sovereign, and Citation X.

Seven thousand Citations. Think about that number for a minute…