Robinson, Cirrus Sales Still Climbing

New Helicopter production figures for the first three months of 2004 show Robinson leading with 158 deliveries followed by Bell with 16, Sikorsky with 8, and Schweizer with 7. Robinson deliveries for the quarter included 104 R44s and 54 R22s, a record high for the company. This is an 82% increase over the first quarter of 2003 when Robinson delivered 57 R44s and 30 R22s.

To accommodate the higher rate of production, Robinson has expanded its workforce from 600 employees in early 2003 to more than 1,000 in 2004. An additional factory building is scheduled for completion in July, which will nearly double Robinson’s manufacturing floor space. This should help shorten the order backlog, which is currently over six months for both the R22 and R44.

Cirrus Claims First Place in Four-Seat Sales

For the first time in a LONG while, the leader in four place GA single engine sales is NOT Cessna.

A look at the 1G/04 stats shows that Cirrus shipped 1 Cirrus SRV, 38 Cirrus SR20s, and 66 Cirrus SR22s as compared to Cessna's 8 172 Skyhawks, 53 172S Skyhawks, 20 182 Skylanes, and 8 182T Skylanes. The totals add up to 105 four seaters for Cirrus Design and 89 Cessna Skyhawks and Skylanes (their only four seaters). Sales pressure seems to be keeping up, too. A quick conversation with CD's John Bingham indicated that April 2004 sales activity yielded 45 birds sold and that they had high hopes for the month of May.

FMI: www.robinsonheli.com, www.cirrusdesign.com