Textron Aviation hired 1,000 workers last year and will do the same this year as the market has improved for the manufacturer of Cessna and Beechcraft airplanes, president and CEO Ron Draper told an audience of 600 customers and suppliers at the opening of the airframer’s annual customer conference today in Wichita.

“We hired 1,000 people last year and we’re probably going to have to hire another 1,000 this year, and that’s great,” Draper said. “Some of that is replacing retirements, but most of that is growth. It makes our employees feel like we’re winning again after a number of difficult years.” The company employs 9,500 people in Kansas.

In keeping with what Textron Inc. CEO Scott Donnelly said a couple of weeks ago, the company’s goal is to finish up the type certification process on the super-midsize Longitude for third-quarter deliveries. “It’s a little bit late to our communicated goals,” Draper said. “We’ve been wrestling with all the paperwork and some of the FAA’s new design assurance processes that have been put on the airplane. Our goal is to get that all done in the second quarter.”

Draper also noted some changes to the executive team, including Chris Hearne who has been appointed senior v-p of engineering, replacing Brad Thress, who is now senior v-p of global parts and programs. “Parts and programs, and customer service are becoming more and more critical to our company, everything we do,” Draper explained. The three-day conference ends Thursday.