In comments to employees, customers and suppliers, Cirrus Aircraft President and CEO Brent Wouters said the company is seeing signs of a strengthening market for aircraft sales. He noted that a number of key business measurements suggested stronger performance in 2010 than previously anticipated.
“We are seeing solid signs that suggest this year could be better — potentially much better — than many are thinking,” Wouters said.
Wouters noted that first-quarter sales are on a pace with the results of the first quarter of 2008, when the company delivered 550 new airplanes. “When you couple that level of sales performance with a greatly improved business that — because of our successful restructuring — has cut our breakeven point to less than half its 2008 level, 2010 is on track to be much better than expected. We’re pleased with the momentum we’re seeing on the sales side, particularly in institutional sales where our focus has already begun to show results, such as the 16-airplane order for flight training at Purdue University. We see many more new fleet opportunities on the horizon.”
Wouters said credit for the improved outlook “goes to our employees, our suppliers and all our partners who are helping us find success by making deliberate and significant progress in every area of the enterprise. While much work remains to be done, by pulling together, the Cirrus community is overcoming the economic headwinds and helping us quickly and quietly grow a very strong company.”
Highlights spurring the renewed optimism:
- Nearly 30 new customer aircraft are scheduled to be delivered in March 2010.
- March 2010 deliveries included the first two aircraft of 16 for flight training at Purdue University’s Department of Aviation Technology, with remaining deliveries to take place in the second and third quarters of this year.
- The company reports it more orders confirmed for both April and May of this year than it had for the same period in either of the past two years.
- Cirrus Certified, the pre-owned aircraft division at Cirrus, is also seeing sales return to 2008 levels. Used Cirrus aircraft prices are showing the strongest signs of stabilization in 24 months.
- Increased global expansion in 2009 is paying significant dividends for Cirrus in 2010 as economies around the world recover at different rates. Year-to-date, total new aircraft deliveries are evenly split between the U.S. and export markets.
- In January and February, the company received more than 25 new production reservations for its Cirrus Vision personal jet.
- Business restructuring milestones include reducing inventory by more than 75%, reducing long-term liabilities by more than 20% and reducing annual fixed costs by over 50%.
For more information: CirrusAircraft.com.
