Cirrus Aircraft

Cirrus Design Corporation
Cirrus Aircraft Ltd
FormerlyCirrus Design (1984–2009)
Company typePublic
SEHK: 2507
IndustryAerospace
Founded1984; 40 years ago (1984) in Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States
FoundersAlan & Dale Klapmeier
Headquarters
Duluth, Minnesota
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide[1]
Key people
Zean Nielsen (CEO)
Patrick Waddick (president, innovation & operations, Duluth division)
Todd Simmons (president, customer experience, Knoxville division)[2]
George Letten (executive vice president & CFO)
Ken Harness (senior vice president, product development)
Ben Kowalski (senior vice president, sales & marketing)[3]
Dale Klapmeier (senior advisor)
ProductsLight aircraft
RevenueIncrease US$1.06 billion (2023)[4]
OwnerChina Aviation Industry General Aircraft (CAIGA)
Number of employees
2,500+ (2023)[5]
ParentAviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC)
SubsidiariesFlying Colors Aviation, Inc.
Websitewww.cirrusaircraft.com Edit this at Wikidata

The Cirrus Design Corporation, doing business as Cirrus Aircraft (formally Cirrus Design), is an aircraft design, manufacturing, maintenance and management company, as well as a provider of flight training services, that was founded in 1984 by Alan and Dale Klapmeier to produce the VK-30 homebuilt aircraft. The company is headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota, United States, with operational locations in six other states across the US including North Dakota, Tennessee (where its customer headquarters are based), Texas, Arizona, Florida and Michigan, and additional sales locations in France and the Netherlands.[6][7][8][9][10] It is majority-owned by a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).

Cirrus markets several versions of its three certificated single-engine light aircraft models: the SR20 (certified in 1998), SR22 (certified in 2000), and SR22T (certified in 2010). As of July 2024, the company had delivered 10,000 SR-aircraft in 25 years of production, and has been the world's largest producer of piston-powered aircraft since 2013 and general aviation aircraft since 2022.[11][12][13][14] It is currently the third-largest aviation manufacturer in the world overall.[14]

Sales of the SR-series grew rapidly during the 2000s, until the economic crisis of 2008. Cirrus was planning to market a light-sport aircraft called the SR Sport, but suspended the project in 2009 due to financial challenges and a lack of market demand. This has since been cancelled. After a return to company growth and United States–based expansion in the 2010s, Cirrus certified and began deliveries of the Vision SF50 very light jet in 2016.[15][16][17] Upon its delivery, the aircraft became the first civilian single-engined jet to enter the market, and is often referred to as a "personal jet".[18][19]

The company produces all of its aircraft with composite materials and is known for pioneering new technologies in the light general aviation aircraft manufacturing industry, including glass cockpits and full-airframe ballistic parachutes.[11][12][20]

In 2001, Cirrus sold a majority of the company to Bahrain-based Arcapita. Ten years later, the manufacturer was acquired by China Aviation Industry General Aircraft (CAIGA), which is a division of the Chinese state-owned AVIC.[21][22] In 2024, it became a minority publicly-owned company as a component of the SEHK.[4]

  1. ^ Cirrus Aircraft - Service & Support
  2. ^ Cirrus Aircraft News (July 15, 2015). "Cirrus Aircraft Expands Leadership Roles of Simmons and Waddick". Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  3. ^ Cirrus Aircraft. "Cirrus Aircraft - Who We Are". cirrusaircraft.com. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NikkeiAsia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Bredsten, Brielle (September 27, 2023). "Cirrus Aircraft unveils $20 million Innovation Center". Duluth News Tribune. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference YahooFinance was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference YahooCirrus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference CirrusOrlando was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference AviationPros was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference EuropeanLocations was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ a b Davison, Budd (December 14, 2015). "Aviation 1965-2015". Plane&Pilot. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  12. ^ a b Hirschman, Dave (April 2018). "Cirrus Lands Collier". AOPA. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference SkiesMag was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ a b "Cirrus Delivers 10,000th SR Series Aircraft". Flying. July 23, 2024. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  15. ^ "Cirrus Vision SF50". Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  16. ^ Niles, Russ (October 30, 2016). "Cirrus SF50 Certified: First Delivery in December". AVweb. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference DNTVisionDelivery was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference BismarkTribune was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference AOPA.org was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Robert Goyer (2011). "10 Ways that the SR22 Changed Flying".
  21. ^ Niles, Russ (July 22, 2012). "One Year Later: Cirrus Upbeat Under Chinese Ownership". AVweb. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  22. ^ "CAIGA website". June 5, 2013. Archived from the original on August 12, 2013.