Cirrus Aircraft announced on Monday that co-founder Dale Klapmeier is now the CEO, and Brent Wouters, who held that post since 2009, is no longer with the company. “Along with our new owners, our commitment is stronger than ever to the same goals and ideals that we had when we started the company more than 25 years ago,” Klapmeier said in a news release. “And that goal is to make the dream of flight a reality for more people, both in the U.S. and around the world. Today we are at the beginning of the next chapter of the reinvention of personal transportation.”The company finalized a deal in June to be sold to CAIGA, China’s general aviation conglomerate. “The timing of this change was not unexpected,” Cirrus spokesman Todd Simmons told AVweb on Monday. “It’s supported by the executive team and by the board.”
Klapmeier will be at AOPA Summit later this week, where the company is scheduled for the first news conference, on Thursday morning. With his brother, Alan, he co-founded Cirrus in 1984. In recent years he has served as chairman of the board. Alan, who served as CEO until 2009, now runs Kestrel Aircraft, in Maine.
