All Hail The Aero-Heroes of 2007!

It is both the most "fun," and most difficult, task facing the ANN staff at the end of every year -- determining who, or what, did the most to promote the cause of aviation in the past 365 days... while also chastising those people or entities that did all they could to undermine the many successes the aviation/aerospace community has managed to accomplish.

Thankfully, 2007 was a year in which we saw the best and brightest among us step forward and work tirelessly on behalf of us all. No doubt about it... the challenges we faced in 2007 were numerous, and ongoing... so was the quality of expertise and passion brought to our defense by those who heroically demonstrated to the world the very best side of aviation... via their deeds, words and actions.

It is ANN's honor to recognize a solid dozen of our Aero-Heroes for 2007... in something of an informal order, starting from 12th to the 1st. Let us know what you think of our selections... whom YOU would have liked be included or omitted from such a list. In the meantime, we thank the folks who made this year's list. Thank you, folks... we really needed you this year, and you didn't let us down.

From the Hero's List... #9: Cessna Boss, Jack Pelton

Over the last few years I've humorously asked the question, "what in the heck are they putting in the drinking water in Wichita, Kansas, these days?"

The reason for such an inquiry is the aggressive (and dare we say) nonconformist behavior of Cessna's CEO, Jack Pelton. Cessna has been known as a bastion of solid conservative aviation business for quite a few years, and under the legendary leadership of folks like Russ Meyer, it often seemed as if Cessna could do no wrong (and for many years, it didn't)... though real change seemed to come about at a slower than desired pace.

But, what Cessna wasn't... was 'revolutionary.' Its decision-making and its progress were based on 'evolutionary' paths, a little bit at a time, and with a significant unwillingness to shake things up. But -- that was 'THEN...'

Well... our buddy Jack has brought a whole new management style to Cessna and shaken up Wichita like no one has in years. While the elder personification of Cessna has been criticized for being slow in adopting new technologies, the pace at which the "new" Cessna has undertaken to improve its product line (and market position) has quickened quite aggressively and taken on a rate that few others can match. Under Pelton's leadership, Cessna has pioneered a new entry-level airframe for its business jet programs, filled in strategic gaps in its bizjet offerings, decisively entered the LSA market, involved itself in some exciting new aircraft development programs, signaled its intent to take on some of the biggest bizjet challenges in the industry (and probably won't be getting any Christmas cards from Gulfstream OR Bombardier for at least a decade), and completed the purchase of Colombia aircraft (while expertly courting devotees of that design line with charm, candor, and a well targeted sense of what was needed to "close the deal.")

Indeed, the Cessna of recent years is not the Cessna we've known before... and there's little question that little (or nothing) happens at Cessna without Pelton's direct involvement, if not approval... and while there are a great number of very talented people who can take credit for many of the strides this company has made recently (they've hired some brilliant folks in the last few years... they DO know talent), the "real blame" for the new fortunes has to be directed at Pelton. We're not quite sure that all of his decision-making is going to turn out to be so positively received as the examples we gave a few sentences ago... as there are serious questions about whether or not foreign production of the Cessna SkyCatcher is going to turn out to be a good idea (by allowing people to purchase affordable LSAs), or whether it might alienate a strongly conservative buying aero-public who may be put off by Chinese manufacture.

Regardless, it's obvious that Pelton is ready to make tough decisions, execute them swiftly, and put the right people in charge. I haven't had this much fun watching Cessna do its thing in many years, and we look forward to even more intriguing developments in little old Wichita for 2008. Pass the popcorn, Jack, '08 looks like its going to be an interesting year...

FMI: www.cessna.com