Waddick Joined Cirrus In 1988

Cirrus Aircraft has named Patrick Waddick the Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer. Previously, Mr. Waddick served as Executive Vice President of Operations at Cirrus.

The announcement was made last Thursday.

Brent Wouters, Cirrus Aircraft President and CEO, commented "For many years now Pat's significant contributions to Cirrus have been instrumental to our success. Time and again Pat has delivered on-budget and on-schedule results within our major development and manufacturing programs. As COO, his increased role and scope of responsibility come at an ideal time as we transition the Vision Jet from strictly an Research and Development project into detailed design and initial preparation for serial production. It's fair to say that the entire Cirrus Aircraft community - our customers, employees, shareholders and partners - are going to benefit from Pat's leadership in his new position."
  
Pat joined Cirrus in 1988 contributing on the VK30 composite pusher-configuration aircraft. Transitioning to ST50 Project Engineering Manager, Pat led a joint Cirrus/Israeli design team through to early flight testing stages. Later as Director of Engineering, Pat was instrumental in the development and certification of the SR20 and SR22. Pat was named Vice President of Engineering in 1997 and promoted to Senior Vice President, of Engineering in 2005.

Since September of 2008, Pat has served as Executive Vice President, Operations where he leads the Customer Support, Manufacturing Operations, Quality and Process Engineering, and Supply Chain organizations. As Chief Operating Officer, Pat's expanded role now includes oversight of both Product Development in addition to the Operations functions previously mentioned. Now with direct oversight of both Engineering and Manufacturing at Cirrus, organizational resources will be better optimized as several key development projects co-locate within core operations. 

In accepting the appointment to his newest role Waddick commented, "this is a great team that does great things, so this expanded role is a privilege. I am and always will be obsessed with airplanes and flying. Having been part of the early roots of this company I care deeply about the customer, our people, and the product. The drive and spirit of innovation is alive and well at Cirrus and, while we've accomplished some incredible things in the past, the future is even more compelling."

Patrick Waddick

Mr. Waddick, an active Private Pilot since 1988 who holds an instrument rating, received a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Wisconsin School of Engineering in 1989. Pat also has extensive hands-on experience with aircraft construction and assembly having worked with many early Cirrus prototypes as well as completion of an experimental 2-place aircraft. Prior to joining Cirrus, he was an engineer with IBM Corporation. In 2004, he was the recipient of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Hap Arnold Award for Excellence in Program Management. 

FMI: www.cirrusaircraft.com