Cessna near top in customer support

The annual survey conducted by Professional Pilot magazine put Cessna second only to Gulfstream in aircraft product support in the jet category.

Gulfstream and Cessna Aircraft came out on top in a recently released corporate aircraft product support survey.

Professional Pilot magazine released the results of its 17th annual survey in its August issue.

In the jet category, Gulfstream was first with a score of 8.06 out of 10, followed by Cessna, Dassault Falcon, Hawker Beechcraft and Bombardier Aerospace.

In the turboprop category, Pilatus took first, followed by Cessna, Hawker Beechcraft, Socata and Piper.

"We find a great deal of value in third-party surveys such as the Pro Pilot surveys," said Cessna spokesman Doug Oliver. "We take them very seriously."

Cessna will study the results and comments from respondents to see how to improve.

Cessna came in second place behind Gulfstream last year and was first two years ago. Cessna wants to take back the top spot next year.

"We always strive to be No. 1," Oliver said.

The magazine polled corporate turbine aircraft operators to rate the quality of after-sale service provided by the manufacturers. The survey had 2,018 respondents.

Conklin & de Decker of Arlington, Texas, performed the independent data analysis.

Gulfstream is the only business jetmaker to have an aircraft dedicated to carrying parts and technical representatives to customers when needed, the magazine said.

Cessna, meanwhile, is "solid as a brick and deserves our salute for providing more service for more jet aircraft in the worldwide business fleet than any other manufacturer," it said.

With so many customers, "it's hard to please them all," the magazine said.

Hawker Beechcraft's service for its Premier I jets scored the highest for any jet. The company understands how important service is, the magazine said.

"As such, they will continue to entice them with good service so that they buy repeat aircraft," the survey said.

The magazine contemplated what has happened at Bombardier, which topped the survey from 1991 to 1994.

"They used to have a group of knowledgeable graybeards serving their customers," the magazine said. "Now company management is very concerned with its support position and has spooled up efforts in the aircraft service race."

Progress is being made, said Bombardier spokeswoman Danielle Boudreau.

"I can't say we're satisfied," she said. But, she added, "we're working harder to accelerate our program."

Bombardier has added personnel, established parts distribution centers and streamlined parts delivery to customers. This month, it opened a parts depot in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

In September, it is launching a customer service program for operators of jets more than 10 years old, Boudreau said.

"It's not completely defined," she said. "It's an open invitation to tell us more about what you need and how we can work together."

Bombardier is increasing parts availability for the older aircraft and working to identify special engineering needs that might occur, she said.

"We're trying to put together programs to better help them out," Boudreau said.

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