Production Target Date Is 2012

Cirrus says it has nearly 430 orders for the Cirrus Jet, giving the company the impetus to move forward with its production plans. But the price tag has jumped from $1.3 million to $1.72 million as the airplane is refined and upgraded.

Vice President for Marketing Todd Simmons said the goal is to be in production with the jet sometime in 2012, but won't commit to a specific time frame. "That can be well late into 2012," Simmons told the Duluth News Tribune. "We're not committing to a specific time. There's a lot of testing and engineering going on."

Like so many things, the Cirrus Jet program faltered somewhat during last year's economic downturn, as about 50 buyers asked for refunds of their $100,000 deposits. The paper reports that Cirrus shipped only 270 airplanes last year, the least since 2001.

Simmons said that orders started picking up in October, with the recent pace being one or two orders every week for the single-engine jet. But because of the price increase, customers ordering now are not eligible to get their money back should the decide not to buy the jet. As of late last week, there were 428 orders for the Cirrus Jet.

FMI: http://cirrusaircraft.com/vision/