A very special day
Taking delivery of a new Cirrus aircraft
That’s because the Cirrus Aircraft team at the company’s new facility in Tennessee had pulled out all the stops to make sure this delivery—and the more than 600 they do annually—was a very special event indeed.
His account manager, Sam Huff, had walked Hicks through the purchase process since they started working together eight months before, and Hicks knew Cirrus likes to make a grand event of the delivery, as this was his second Cirrus purchase. He was prepared for some showmanship, but this was better than he thought it would be. First Cirrus brings its customers to its new and expanding facility at McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) and introduces them to the people who have made their airplane special, from its interior to its custom paint job. Then, after tours and snacks and a gift shop stop, one of the Cirrus company SUVs picks up the customer and sales rep and travels the short drive down to one of the campus hangars. As the hangar door opens, the customer in the right seat is practically blinded by flashing lights as the SUV rolls into the hangar. Loud, specially chosen music blares from the sound system, and then all the hangar lights come up to reveal the new aircraft to its excited owner. Bathed in colorful lighting, their new Cirrus is presented like the magic carpet it is.
Hicks had left the choice of paint color to Huff, so he was especially excited to see his new G7 in the color scheme “Mesa,” and Huff had chosen to play Come Together because he knew Hicks liked The Beatles. To add to all the excitement, it was Ryan Klapmeier, son of Cirrus co-founder Dale Klapmeier, who handed Hicks the keys. That afternoon Hicks flew his new aircraft with CFI Tyler Zaleski.
“I had the most amazing delivery you can possibly have,” said Hicks. “It was an experience I’ll never forget. Cirrus knocked it out of the park.”
That’s exactly the response Travis Klumb, Cirrus director of aircraft deliveries, hopes to hear.
“We’re always trying to bring more people into aviation and trying to grow the whole aviation market. We want to try to bring more people into this wonderful, wonderful world of GA. So, we’re trying to make every aspect of that such a different experience than maybe they’ve experienced in other parts of general aviation,” he said. “We want to do it differently, and not for the sake of doing it differently, but because we think a beautiful new Cirrus airplane deserves this sort of pomp and circumstance when a customer takes delivery of it.”
Hicks was introduced to aviation through his wife’s family. Even though he’d been “crawling around hangars my whole business career” putting down industrial flooring, he never anticipated becoming a pilot. But a flight with his wife’s uncle in a Cessna Citation jet from Florida to Dallas convinced him of the value of GA flying.
“I use my Cirrus for work and pleasure, but work is my main use. We have offices in Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, and it makes it very easy for me to visit them and get home in the same day,” he said. “I bought a Cirrus because I knew my wife would want the safest airplane on the market for us. And I love the way they look.”“I had the most amazing delivery you can possibily have; Cirrus knocked it out of the park.”
Hicks was new to aviation when he bought his first Cirrus in 2021. He was learning to fly and building hours when he bought his SR22. “I feel more like a pilot now. I was just a scared individual on the first one. I’m excited to go fly with Tyler this afternoon, where in 2021, I was terrified. Was I ready? Did I know what I was doing? And here we are; I’m glad I stuck with it.”
Hicks has 650 hours, has his instrument rating, and is working on his commercial certificate. He still owns his SR22 and has it on a leaseback program with Texas-based Stature Aviation where he learned to fly.
Klumb says the delivery event is always evolving, attempting to create an experience that enhances an owner’s purchase—and keeps them coming back for more.
“We want to make it as special as possible. And we’ve changed that process over the years to make it as exciting as possible and make it different. We have a lot of repeat customers, and we don’t want them to have the same experience every time,” he said.
Once the aircraft owner signs an aircraft order with a salesperson, Cirrus introduces its “delivery experience account manager” to the owner. This person will guide the new owner through the process of owning a brand-new airplane. This includes everything from securing registration to insurance, making sure that the airplane gets submitted to the production facility and gets built the way the owner wants it to be built.
“That process, depending on our backlog, can sometimes take more than a year. So, we’ll be working with the owner, kind of in anticipation of this day, for a long time. When that day finally arrives, it’s pretty special,” said Klumb. 
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