Article courtesy of WBIR-TV.
ALCOA, Tenn. — One of the largest general aviation companies in the world runs its customer-facing operations out of McGhee Tyson Airport.
Cirrus Aircraft makes its airplanes in Duluth, Minnesota, but when customers are ready to pick the aircraft up, they have to come to Knoxville, Tennessee.
“We invite our clients to experience the Cirrus Life and East Tennessee natural beauty and culture,” said Todd Simmons, the President of Customer Experience at Cirrus, in an emailed statement.
Jeff Smith is the Vice Chair of the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority Board of Commissioners and an aviation enthusiast. Smith said the customers that Cirrus brings in significantly affect the economy.
Smith said Cirrus’s customers generally spend between three and five days in East Tennessee while they take delivery of their aircraft.
Cirrus said it estimates its customers spend a total of more than 4,000 nights in East Tennessee hotels.