Upstart GA Manufacturer Wants To Take On Cessna

Cirrus Designs has already made remarkable inroads into the manufacture of single-engine, piston-driven aircraft. With confidence borne of experience, the brash upstart now plans nothing less than a full-drive to overtake Cessna as the leader of the pack.

"We want to be the No. 1 manufacturer" in that segment of the general aviation industry, said John Bingham, Cirrus executive vice president for sales and marketing. He was quoted in the Wichita Eagle. "There is a great opportunity for us to grow into a serious dominant force in the industry."

Can Cirrus do it? Already, the Duluth (MN)-based manufacturer is number two in the piston-driven SEL (Single Engine/Land) market. With a bullet.

Only last year, the fourth in which Cirrus rolled aircraft off the assembly line, the company delivered 459 planes -- a combination of the SR-20, SR-22 and the SRV. As the aviation industry continues to slowly recover from the downturn suffered after 9/11, Cirrus took orders for 100 new aircraft in the first two months of this year alone. That's almost double the number of orders received during all of 2001.

What's the big deal? First, of course, is the glass-panel cockpit, a standard feature in Cirrus aircraft. "That's been a tremendous advantage for us," Bingham told the Wichita paper. "It makes flying so much easier, and it's terribly reliable." Only now is Cessna introducing digital flight control packages for the 182 and 206.

Cirrus aircraft are all-composite, while Cessna relies on aluminum construction. Cirrus aircraft are all equipped with parachute fail-safe systems, in case of insurmountable in-flight problems.

For now, Cessna reacts to the Cirrus challenge with aplomb. Spokeswoman Marilyn Richwine says Cessna has every intention of staying in the single-engine piston market for a long, long time. She says her company will make investments in that sector of the business and will do "everything we can to make sure... that they don't overtake us in deliveries. They (Cirrus) have apparently developed a good airplane and have become real competition for us."

Indeed, when you look at total deliveries forecast by both companies this year, Cirrus won't make good on Bingham's threat in 2004. But it'll be close. Cessna predicts it will sell about 600 single-engine piston aircraft this year. Cirrus plans to ship more than 500. Cirrus has already ramped up production and is putting out two aircraft a day.

"We still believe we have the proven record, and the product stands behind that record," Richwine told the Eagle.

Pulling Out Of The Nosedive

While much of the aviation industry continues to feel the aftershocks of the 9/11 terror attacks on New York and Washington, the market for piston-engine aircraft is beginning to shine.

"It's all the whiz-bang stuff that Cirrus and Diamond and Cessna and Mooney now are starting to put out there," said Chris Dancy, AOPA's media director. Last year, sales of single-engine piston aircraft were up 9.5 percent, while the market for bizjets continued to deflate.

"We're cautiously optimistic," Cessna's Richwine said.

In the meantime, Cirrus continues to stalk Cessna, hoping at some point in the next few years, to become the world's premier manufacturer of single-engine piston aircraft.

FMI: www.cirrusdesign.com, www.cessna.textron.com