John Murphey Named Chairman and CEO of Bell Helicopter Textron; Executive brings significant Bell experience and leadership

    PROVIDENCE, R.I.--Sept. 26, 2001--Textron Inc. today announced that John R. Murphey, 59, has been named chairman and chief executive officer of the company's $1.6 billion Bell Helicopter business, effective immediately. Murphey was previously president and chief operating officer of Bell Helicopter and will continue to be based at Bell's Fort Worth, TX, headquarters. He replaces Terry Stinson and will report to Lewis B. Campbell, Textron's chairman, president and chief executive officer.
    "John has a legacy of success and achievement at Bell, and is ideally suited to provide a crucial link between the past and future of the company," Campbell said. "Bell is facing a number of business challenges, and John and his team have the right focus on both strategy and execution to guide the company through a critical transition where cost controls will be a priority," he added.
    "Bell has made, and will continue to make, significant changes that build on the core competencies and the strengths of the Bell workforce, and reflect the reality of today's business climate," Murphey said. "Our goal now will be to build on those initiatives and re-position the company for continued growth," he said.
    Murphey was named president of Bell in November 1998 and was named chief operating officer in March 2001. He joined Bell in 1961 and has held various positions of increasing responsibility spanning contracts and administration, pricing, V-22 contracting, purchasing and materiel management, commercial sales and marketing, and administration. From 1994 to 1996, Murphey was the executive vice president of manufacturing operations and engineering for Textron's Aerostructures division. He returned to Bell and became executive vice president - U.S. military business and customer support until 1998.
    Murphey is a graduate of Texas Wesleyan University and completed his MBA in 1973 at Texas Christian University. He is chairman of the American Helicopter Society and a trustee of Texas Wesleyan University. A native Texan, Murphey and his wife Kathy reside in Fort Worth.
    Textron Inc. (www.textron.com) is a $13 billion, global, multi-industry company with market-leading businesses in Aircraft, Automotive, Industrial Products, Fastening Systems and Finance. Textron has a workforce of 68,000 employees and major manufacturing facilities in 30 countries. Textron is among Fortune magazine's "Global Most Admired Companies" and Industry Week magazine's "Best Managed Companies."

    Forward-looking Information: Certain statements in this release and other oral and written statements made by Textron from time to time, are forward-looking statements, including those that discuss strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; or project revenues, income, returns or other financial measures. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the statements, including the following: (a) the extent to which Textron is able to implement and complete its restructuring plans (b) the extent to which Textron is able to successfully integrate recent acquisitions, (c) changes in worldwide economic and political conditions that impact interest and foreign exchange rates, (d) the occurrence of work stoppages and strikes at key facilities of Textron or Textron's customers or suppliers, (e) government funding and program approvals affecting products being developed or sold under government programs, (f) successful implementation of supply chain and e-procurement strategies, (g) the timing of certifications of new aircraft products, (h) the occurrence of a severe downturn in the economies in which Textron operates that could reduce demand for its products (i) the level of consumer demand for the vehicle models for which Textron supplies parts to automotive original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs"), (j) Textron's ability to offset, through cost reductions, raw material price increases and pricing pressure brought by OEM customers, and (k) Textron Financial's ability to maintain credit quality and control costs when entering new markets.