Plastic Pilot

First time I heard that Cessna will build the SkyCatcher LSA in China, I did not post about it but just put the info in my twitter feed. With globalisation everywhere I was not even surprised by this decision from Cessna…

Immediately after Cessna made this decision public the reactions started, and they look like a tsunami. Some of those who paid 5′000 US$ to reserve a SkyCatcher are even ready to loose their bucks (read this if you don’t beleive me) !

The reactions have been so strong that Tom Aniello (VP in charge of marketing) published a quite long open letter to support and explain the decision. By the time I write this post, slightly more than one month after the letter has been published, more than 470 comments have been left by readers !

By assembling the SkyCatcher in China, Cessna attemps to maintain an acceptable price for low-budget pilots while keeping high quality and safety. Any accident occuring in the early in the life of an aircraft type has catastrophic impacts. If that would occur with the SkyCatcher the “China” factor will certainly pop-up even before investigators will reach the crash site, so Cessna will have to be really careful about the work done in China.

The criticism is high because of emotional factors. The “relation” which takes place between pilot and aircraft is complex to describe and explain. Combining this relation with the one we have to our national identity can be explosive, as shown by reaction of US readers. I’m probably less affected as a european. The only plane factory in Switzerland is Pilatus, and I’m not sure how I would react if they decided to move the plant to China. However the turbine, prop and avionics are not “Swiss Made” anyway…

The chinese partner Cessna chose is not exactly a newcomer in aviation, and Shenyang Aircraft Company is also a subcontractor of Boeing and Airbus. If Cessna really achieve to collaborate with them and produce the SkyCatcher at US quality and chinese price, there will be a chance for success.

Communication, and particularly timing, was may be not ideal. Taking orders before saying where the plane would be built was probably an error. Is Cessna management more globalized than their customer ? May be. But a good marketer has to know what most of the clients will accept.

To me all of this boils down to two questions:

• Will Cessna and Shenyang Aircraft Company achieve the expected safety and quality levels ?

• Will the low price allow for enough customers to compensate for those who will prefer a US or even european built concurent ?

Let’s put our crystal balls aside, stop the arguing, and leave the Cessna guys do what they have to do. Only time will tell…