The Cirrus Design Corporation, doing business as Cirrus Aircraft (formally Cirrus Design), is an aircraft design, manufacturing, maintenance and management company, as well as a provider of flight training services, that was founded in 1984 by Alan and Dale Klapmeier to produce the VK-30 homebuilt aircraft. The company is headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota, United States, with operational locations in six other states—Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Dakota, Tennessee (where its customer headquarters are based in Knoxville), and Texas—and sales locations in France and the Netherlands. As of 2024, it is the world's third-largest aviation manufacturer by unit-volume.

In 2001, Cirrus sold a majority of the company to Bahrain-based Arcapita. Ten years later, the manufacturer was acquired by China Aviation Industry General Aircraft (CAIGA), a division of the Chinese state-owned AVIC. In 2024, it became a minority publicly-owned company as a component of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. By 1984, they founded the Cirrus Design Company and along with spouses Jeff and Sally Viken, started developing the VK-30 as a kit aircraft project in the basement of the Klapmeier family's barn in rural Baraboo, Wisconsin. After a few years in the design phase, the brothers borrowed money to construct their own hangars on the Baraboo–Wisconsin Dells Airport, where they began flight testing. The VK-30 was introduced at the 1987 EAA Oshkosh Convention and first flew on 11 February 1988. Kit deliveries commenced shortly thereafter.

1990s

thumbnail|Cirrus-designed [[Cirrus ST50|Israviation ST50 at the Paris Air Show in 1997]]

Cirrus began designing the ST-50 under contract to Israeli aircraft manufacturer IsrAviation in the early 1990s. The aircraft was configured like the Cirrus VK-30 but powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6-135 turboprop engine, in place of the piston engine used in the VK-30. The prototype was first flown on 7 December 1994 by Norman E. Howell. Earlier that year, the Klapmeier brothers moved company headquarters from southern Wisconsin to a much larger facility at the Duluth International Airport in Duluth, Minnesota, bringing 35 employees with them and hiring another 15 at once.

In August 1996, Cirrus announced plans to build a plant at the Grand Forks International Airport in Grand Forks, North Dakota. This was followed by customer deliveries of the SR20 beginning in July 1999.

2000s

thumb|right|[[Cirrus SR20 landing]]

thumb|right|[[Cirrus SR22 front view]]

In June 2000, the company received an FAA Production Certificate for its SR20 aircraft. On 30 November of that year, Cirrus received a type certificate for its next model, the Cirrus SR22, which began deliveries in 2001.

In July 2002, the company announced that it would collaborate with the University of North Dakota Aerospace Foundation to provide a new Cirrus Customer Training program.

In June 2004, Cirrus received type certification for the SR20 from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). That same year, Cirrus accomplished record-breaking sales, up 69% over the previous year. The SR22 became the world's best-selling general aviation aircraft.

Cirrus entered the civilian flight-training fleet market with SR20 deliveries to Sweden's Lund University in January 2005, followed by Western Michigan University in September of that year.

In 2006, the company delivered 721 aircraft (at the time its most in a single year), celebrating the 3,000th SR-series airplane off the production line only seven years after deliveries commenced,

thumb|right|[[Cirrus Vision SF50 single-engine very light jet]]

thumb|right|[[Cirrus SRS light-sport aircraft (Fk14 Polaris)]]

On 28 June 2007 the Cirrus Vision SF50 single-engine light jet was unveiled (then known simply as "The-Jet"). At the 2007 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh airshow, the company unveiled the Cirrus SR Sport (also called the SRS) light-sport aircraft. A version of the B&F Fk14 Polaris, the type never entered production for Cirrus. In December 2007 Arcapita stated that it was looking to sell its share of the company. Cirrus indicated at the time of the announcement that this was expected as Arcapita was considered a medium-term investor.

Company CEO Alan Klapmeier announced in October 2008 that due to the economic situation and resulting lack of demand for Cirrus aircraft, the company was moving to a three-day work week. He reported that sales were down 10% over the same period in the previous year. Compared to the industry average in that same period sales were down 16%. Klapmeier also indicated that introduction of the SRS would be delayed until 2009, due to lack of demand in the light-sport aircraft market sector, but that the Cirrus Vision SF50 jet would not be delayed.

Cirrus eliminated 208 employee positions in the fall of 2008 and cut aircraft production from 14 to 12 aircraft per week in response to the economic situation. In November 2008, the company announced that it would lay-off about 500 production employees for one month to allow for reductions in excess stock of aircraft produced. Between December 2008 and January 2009, the company began the process of changing its name from Cirrus Design to Cirrus Aircraft.

Cirrus started recalling its workers on 5 January 2009 after the month-long shutdown. The furloughed workers were called back slowly over the month, to ramp up production to eight aircraft per week, compared to a company capacity of 16 aircraft per week. The company indicated at that time that it would retain the ability to reduce its workforce quickly as the economic situation and sales numbers dictate.

On 9 January 2009, Cirrus announced that it would lay off 50 administrative employees and extend the layoff period for 100 of the 500 employees laid off over Christmas 2008. Company spokesman Bill King stated that the cuts were necessary or else the company would not survive the 2008 financial crisis.

In early February 2009, the company's new CEO, Brent Wouters, indicated that the future of the company would likely hinge on the Vision SF50 jet design as production of the piston single-engine SR-series had fallen to 20% of its 2008 rate of 16 aircraft per week. Wouters characterized demand for new aircraft as "awful" and added, "We are increasing our focus on the jet, because that is going to be our future engine for growth in my estimation."

In April 2009, the company announced that it was suspending the light-sport SRS aircraft project. It cited economic conditions, that the aircraft required development, an expanded flight-training strategy and that the LSA rules were expected to change over time to allow LSAs with a broader mission profile.

On 29 April 2009, the company announced that it was increasing production from the previous 3-4 aircraft per week back to 6 aircraft per week. The change was accomplished without recalling any laid-off workers. The company stated: "We continue to see very encouraging trends in sales activities and interest from sales prospects domestically and around the world. Clearly, this is an upward move and is indicative of a stronger bias toward growth in aircraft orders. Though we remain in a very challenging environment, our hope is that this new rate is the first step and initial indicator of what will become a more substantial trend into the second half of the year and beyond."

On 1 June 2009, the company announced it was recalling 50 workers and boosting production to 8 aircraft per week.

The company stated: