Nearly 10,000 Airplanes Have Rolled Out The Doors In Those
Years
Cessna marked 15 years since opening its manufacturing facility
in Independence, KS on Thursday. The company has produced nearly
9,500 single-engine pistons and more than 350 Citation Mustang
business jets at the plant.
Work at the Cessna Independence facility includes assembly,
paint, installation of interiors and delivery of seven
single-engine piston aircraft models — 172R Skyhawk, 172S
Skyhawk SP, 182T Skylane, T182T Turbo Skylane, 206H Stationair,
T206H Turbo Stationair and the Corvalis TTX — as well as the
Citation Mustang entry-level business jet. Additionally,
Independence employees provide Garmin G1000 avionics pilot training
and manufacture small parts for propeller aircraft and for some
business jets that are built at Cessna's headquarters in Wichita,
Kan.
The facility sits on a 213-acre site adjacent to the
Independence Airport (KIDP), which is about 125 miles southeast of
Wichita. Structures on the property include a main assembly plant,
sand and fill building, paint facility, flight building and a
customer delivery center.
"The roughly 500 Cessnans from throughout southeastern Kansas
and northeastern Oklahoma who work at our Independence facility
have been instrumental in Cessna maintaining its leadership in the
single-engine piston market and in the successful introduction of
the Citation Mustang," said Eric Cardinali, senior vice president
of Integrated Supply Chain. "Our factory there is very much a
family atmosphere, which is apparent in the customer experience and
the productivity levels we see in Independence."
Cessna discontinued single-engine piston aircraft production in
Wichita in the 1980s — due in part to rising product
liability costs — and re-entered the market after the 1994
passage of the U.S. General Aviation Revitalization Act. The
company broke ground for its original 400,000-square-foot
Independence site on May 19, 1995, and dedicated the facility July
3, 1996.
The first Independence-produced single-engine piston came off
the line in November 1996 and the facility delivered its 9,000th
single-engine piston in March 2010. In total, Cessna has produced
more than 154,500 single-engine pistons since the company's
founding in 1927.
In 2004, Cessna selected the Independence site to build its new
Citation Mustang, the first Citation to be manufactured outside of
Wichita. After significant expansion of the facility, Independence
began production of the Mustang on Oct. 5, 2005. Through the first
quarter of 2011, Cessna had delivered 356 Mustangs.
Since opening in Independence in 1996, Cessna has assisted in
stimulating the local economy through employees' salaries and
benefits, and by bringing customers to the area. Cumulatively,
Cessna has paid employees approximately $400 million in salaries
and
$1.2 million in tuition aid since 1996.
Bolen Gives Congress a Rare Thumbs-Up
See All