Story ID: 
Cirrus Aircraft Opens Arizona, Texas Facilities
By: Kim Rosenlof
Caption: Cirrus Aircraft held a grand opening of its Aircraft Innovation Centers in Chandler, Arizona, and McKinney, Texas.
Word Count: 218
Cirrus Aircraft held a grand opening of its Aircraft Innovation Center in Chandler, Arizona, last week. Located about 16 miles from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, the facility will employ about 24 engineers to provide avionics, electrical, and software engineering services to the company’s product development team at its headquarters in Duluth, Minnesota.

“The Chandler innovation center is more than just an exciting inflection point in the trajectory of the growth of Cirrus,” said Cirrus president of innovation and operations Pat Waddick. “It not only signals an aggressive investment in our innovation and product development capability, but it highlights the role of technology in the future of general aviation.”

In addition, Cirrus this month will soon hold an official grand opening for its innovation center in McKinney, Texas, that supports all engineering disciplines. Both facilities are now in operation and support the product development team responsible for advancing new technologies and designs for product introductions.

Meanwhile, the company started operations at its new flight training facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, last month, providing Cirrus flight training and aircraft management services. “The expansion of Cirrus Flight Training in Arizona continues our mission of providing world-class training through both our company-owned facilities and partner network around the world,” said Cirrus Aircraft CEO Zean Nielsen.