Cessna’s efforts to boost its customer and product support infrastructure in Europe go beyond bricks and mortar. As EBACE opens, the first steel structures are under construction at the site of its new factory-owned service center at Valencia, Spain. But, at least as importantly, the U.S. airframer is putting the human foundations in place with an extensive training and preparation process for the people who will be at the forefront of support for the fast-growing Citation fleet on this side of the Atlantic.
Last year, with Valencia still a construction site, Cessna hired an initial group of 17 technicians and next month they are set to graduate after six months of ground school with FlightSafety International where they have become fully versed in supporting all Citation models. Next, the group–composed of a mix of Spaniards, Danes, Germans, British and one American–will be assigned to various Cessna U.S. service centers to get a full year of hands-on experience in supporting Citation operators.
