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.