Cirrus Aircraft has told Flying that it won’t be at next week’s Sun ‘n Fun fly-in in Lakeland, Florida. The company knows that the decision will prompt rumors, and it’s right. We’ve already started hearing them. Any time a major single-engine airplane manufacturer skips one of the country’s major airshows, the result is often suspicion that the company is experiencing economic hardship.
But Cirrus says it just ain’t so. In a phone call to Flying, Cirrus’ Todd Simmons said that the reason for the decision is that Sun ‘n Fun is an expensive show to attend and that Cirrus thinks its sales goals can be better served by meeting customers at different kinds of events more specifically targeted to Cirrus customers.
To further dispel concerns Simmons went on to say that in addition to the big trade shows, including Oshkosh, AOPA Summit and Aero Friedrichshafen, Cirrus will conduct numerous company sales events. “Taken altogether,” he says, Cirrus will actually have more events scheduled in 2012 than in any year in recent memory. Simmons also pointed out that Cirrus will be sponsoring several events at Sun ‘n Fun. He concluded by noting that if a potential customer were interested in talking with a Cirrus sales rep in Florida at Sun ‘n Fun time, it wouldn’t be hard to scare one up.
